


RA on duty, how can I help you?

by jennycaakes



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 05:45:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9979028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennycaakes/pseuds/jennycaakes
Summary: This is Miller’s second year as an RA so he knows how dramatic freshmen can be. What he’s not prepared for, however, is having a giant massive crush on his resident’s boyfriend.





	

**Author's Note:**

> there's a slur in the middle, just a warning!

Miller stands from his desk with a huff, striding toward his door ready to scold whoever is on the other side. It’s definitely quiet hours, meaning _no one should be loud enough for him to hear with his door shut_ , and he has a paper due tomorrow that’s barely started. It’s a week into the school year and he didn’t expect junior year to have this much pressure this early on. He already has multiple papers and more than enough reading to do for the rest of the month. Thankfully it’s his second year as an Resident Assistant, meaning he’s already learned how to take care of a floor full of freshmen, so it won’t be a big deal telling whoever it is to shut up.

“I’m telling you,” Jasper’s voice pushes through from the other side. “His name’s Miller. We call him _Miller_.”

“His door says RA Nate,” an Unidentified Voice says back. “Clearly his name is RA Nate.”

Miller pulls open his door with a frown. Jasper lives on his floor across the hall and he’s already had to tell him multiple times that he cannot smoke weed in his bedroom (or at all, what the hell). The other boy though, he’s not Miller’s resident. Which is a good thing, honestly, because the second he sees him his heart plummets into his chest.

“Hey Miller,” Jasper says with a grin.

Unidentified Voice smiles and Miller might understand why people believe in love at first sight. The kid’s got dimples for Christ’s sake. “Hey RA Nate,” Unidentified Voice says.

“I’m writing a paper,” he says as neutrally as he can.

Jasper points to his door. There’re a few different places for Miller to slide his magnet to, letting the people who live on his floor know where he is. In (which means he’s in his room), Out (which means he’s out of his room), and Around (for when he’s in the building, but not his room). “Your magnet’s on _Out_.”

“I didn’t want to be bothered,” Miller says.

“I feel deceived,” Jasper responds.

“Because I’m writing a paper,” Miller reminds him.

“Cool,” Jasper says. He slings his arm around his friend, pulling him close. “This is Monty. The most important person in my entire life. Like, ever.” _Oh_ _fuck_. “I wanted you to meet him.”

Monty extends his hand. And—fuck, clearly this is Jasper’s boyfriend. Miller feels like trash for his weird immediate attraction. “Nice to meet you,” Monty says. Miller accepts the handshake with as much of a smile he can muster. “Jasper talks about you all the time.”

Miller drops his hand back to his side. “We’ve only been in school for like a week,” Miller points out, “so I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.” Monty laughs, and fuck. Miller’s really screwed. Like, seriously, very screwed. He can’t have a crush on his resident’s fucking boyfriend.

_“I’m just really lucky to have him in my life,” Jasper had said, stretched out on Miller’s futon a couple days into the semester. Miller tended to keep his door open as often as he could and Jasper was one of the residents who really took advantage of that. “Monty and me, we grew up together. He’s my best friend, and God I love him. No idea where I’d be without him.”_

_“It’s nice to have a friend like him,” Miller said. He had a few friends like that of his own._

_“Oh, he’s more than that,” Jasper told him. And Miller didn’t push, because he understood. It was hard for him to put it into words when he started dating guys, just because he was so used to_ not _dating guys. It was always_ more than that _, more than friends. “I love him,” Jasper said again, easily. “So damn much.”_

“It’s good,” Monty says in the present. “He says you have your door open a lot, which is great, because my RA is literally a ghost.”

“Literally,” Jasper says.

“Like, must’ve died in a residence hall,” Monty carries on, “and housing hired him as an RA because they can’t get rid of him sort of ghost.” Miller finds his mouth tugging into a smile. Cute and funny? Jasper has good taste. “Really. Full body apparition.”

“Never around?” Miller guesses.

“Haven’t seen him since our first floor meeting,” Monty tells him.

Jasper tugs Monty closer and Monty leans into him with all the familiarness of a long term relationship. “I’ll give you Miller’s number,” he says. “He’s a great RA. If you need like roommate help.” Miller opens his mouth to protest but Jasper’s already steering his boyfriend down the hallway toward his room. “Bye Miller!”

“Bye RA Nate! Good luck on your paper!”

Jasper’s door opens and shuts, laughter muffled when it latches, and Miller’s still standing in his own doorway. It takes him a moment but eventually he steps back inside before starting off for his desk again.

* * *

It’s not that Miller has trouble finding people to date. Honestly, he’s kind of a hopeless romantic at heart, so he tends to fall in love on the daily. With the barista who writes Nathan in long loopy letters. With his TA who always lets Miller borrow his pen so he can sign the attendance sheet. With the guy on the weights at the gym who could easily bench press him. Miller likes the idea of a something with a someone.

So, having a crush on his resident’s boyfriend, it’s not like A Thing. At first.

 **From Unknown  
** hey ra nate guess who this is

Miller’s in staff meeting when his phone buzzes in his pocket. Bellamy shoots him a suspicious look and Monroe looks like she disapproves that he even has his phone _on_ , but whatever. Kane, his supervisor, is droning on about key policies and how they have to confirm they’re giving a spare room key to an actual resident and not some stranger based on an incident that happened across campus, but Miller’s not a fucking idiot so he already knows that.

 **From RA Nate**  
Seeing as my own residents  
don’t call me RA Nate I’m going  
to guess that this is Monty?

 **From Monty  
** ding ding ding! we have a winner!

Miller bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling. It’s been a few days since he met Monty and hasn’t heard from him, which was perfectly okay considering he wasn’t actually Monty’s RA, but part of him had been waiting for the message.

 **From Monty**  
i’ve got an issue and my real  
RA is MIA as per usual could  
you offer some friendly advice?

“Put your phone away,” Bellamy mutters beside him. Miller rolls his eyes in response.

 **From RA Nate  
** That’s part of the job. What’s up?

 **From Monty  
** i am locked out of my room

Miller can’t stop himself from snorting. “Something funny, Nathan?” Kane asks from where he’s seated across the table.

Miller shakes his head. “It’s a resident,” he says, gesturing to his phone. “Sorry. He’s locked out of his room.”

 **From RA Nate**  
Go to the front desk of your  
building and ask for your spare key.

 **From Monty  
** my savior!!!

Miller places his phone face down on the table to show his supervisor that he seriously isn’t texting anymore. That doesn’t stop Bellamy from bringing it up, though. On his agenda he scribbles out _which one’s Monty?_

 _Not actually my resident_ , Miller writes back.

Bellamy’s response is short. _…_

 _Jasper’s BF_ , Miller writes. _His RA sucks_. Bellamy wrinkles his nose in response.

* * *

Ever since becoming a Resident Assistant, Miller tends to hang out exclusively with other RAs. There’s just something about being an RA that normal people don’t tend to understand. Being an RA you have to live on the floor with other people and constantly handle their issues and their drama, no matter how stupid and petty, and you have to plan events for people who half the time don’t care, and you have to help build up a community from scratch. Normal people don’t realize that becoming an RA takes up like, 75% of your brain.

Thankfully, Clarke is also an RA.

They’re at lunch now seeing as they both have a free block on Tuesday. They knew each other only by name in high school but as luck would have it, they were placed in the same building and on the same floor their freshmen year. Not really knowing anyone tended to have people gravitating toward the familiar. It turned out that he and Clarke actually got along pretty well.

They applied to become RAs together and both got the job, but Clarke’s in a building across campus so they have to schedule their time to see one another now.

“But who _does_ that,” she huffs, stabbing at her salad. “A fucking kiddy pool in the common lounge. Seriously?” Miller shakes his head in disbelief at her story, thankful that while his residents can be a little crazy they’re not _that_ crazy. Just loud. “Anyway, now we have water damage.”

Miller laughs. “Is housing making the kids pay?”

“Yes housing is making the kids pay!” Clarke shakes her head. “Which, good, they should. But now half my floor is pissed at me for writing them up.”

“They’ll get over it.” It was Clarke’s second year as an RA too and they were catching up on the ridiculousness that is Reslife.

“What about you?” she asks. “Anything new?” Miller shakes his head. It’s nice not having to write incident reports every night. “Well that’s--oh, hey!” Clarke lights up and Miller frowns, turning to follow her gaze, surprised to find Jasper and Monty there.

Monty beams. “Hey!”

“Hiya,” Jasper says. “Look at this,” he nudges Monty, jerking his head at where Miller and Clarke are sitting. He shimmies a little. “Worlds colliding.”

“Nice to see you again RA Nate,” Monty says, still beaming, and Miller manages a semi-bright smile in response. To be honest, it might look more like a grimace. “We’re having a working lunch,” Monty says, pushing Jasper along. “So we should go. But it was nice to see you guys!”

“Definitely,” Clarke says with a smile.

Miller hasn’t said anything at all and he’s not going to start now, so he takes a bite of his burger and tips his head as the two walk away. He waits until they’re out of earshot. “You know Monty?” Miller asks after swallowing his bite. Clarke nods, waving over her shoulder again as he and Jasper head out of the dining hall together. “How?”

“He and Jasper come to GSA meetings,” Clarke tells him. She’s president of Arkadia’s Gay-Straight Alliance chapter. “Which you would _know_. If you ever _came_.” Miller huffs. “How do you know them?”

“Jasper’s my resident.”

“And Monty’s always around,” Clarke concludes. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them apart, if I’m being honest.” Miller looks up to where the two walked away and isn’t surprised to find that they’re already gone. “They’re fun,” she says.

“Yeah,” Miller murmurs. Fun.

* * *

But listen, it doesn’t turn into A Thing right away. Miller sees Monty in the hallway when Jasper brings him into the building and that’s pretty much it. It’s not a crush. Miller can acknowledge that Monty’s a good looking individual with an excellent smile and a great sense of humor without it being a crush.

Monty will text him every once in awhile with an issue that he’s having with his roommate but generally, they don’t talk. So there’s no real basis for a crush.

Until.

Clarke and Bellamy invite Miller out. “It’s GSA’s unofficial homecoming party,” Clarke says. “There’s going to be a shit ton of alcohol, and Bellamy already told me you’re not on call.”

Miller huffs. “I don’t want to go,” he says.

“It’s free alcohol,” Bellamy says. “What do you mean you don’t want to go?”

It’s different for Bellamy. He’s in his senior year and he’s already 21, so he can go to parties without the small lingering fear of losing his job. Miller’s dad’s a cop so he knows the risks. And losing his job would suck for a lot of reasons (1 because he really enjoys it and 2 he gets free fucking housing which saves his dad a _lot_ of money).

“Wells and Raven will be there too,” Clarke says. “It’ll be fun. You can leave after like, two hours. _Please_.”

Bellamy turns on his guilt-tripping eyes too and Miller eventually agrees.

He’s just not really a big fan of parties. He’s a big fan of getting drunk, and free alcohol like Bellamy said, but it’s the large groups of socializing that really turn him away.

Friday night comes sooner than expected and Miller finds himself at someone from GSA’s off-campus apartment, Bellamy having abandoned him to flirt with Clarke and no sign of Wells or Raven, standing alone with his drink.

“RA Nate!” Miller pauses with his plastic cup to his lips, dreading the idea of having to leave because he knows an underclassman who’s at the party, and afraid to turn around because he knows exactly which underclassman it is. Still, he turns, finding Monty with a grin on his face. His cheeks are flushed and his hair’s a little messy and it’s very clear that he’s been drinking. Maybe he pregamed for the party. Do people still do that? “Hey!” He looks at Miller’s cup and says, “That’s some really great water, huh?”

Miller frowns, but he can work with this. “No pictures,” he says.

Monty’s grin widens. “Promise.” He looks around the room. “I didn’t realize you were in the GSA.”

“Like, vaguely,” Miller says. He still feels a bit out of place at the parties considering he _doesn’t_ go to the meetings regularly, but he had an invite. Ever since becoming an RA Miller’s had to cut down on his going out, so his friends really want to make sure he still has _some_ social life. “I went a lot with Clarke freshmen year. It was more her thing than mine.”

“Because you were the S of the GSA?” he asks.

Miller snorts. “More like the G,” he tells Monty before taking a sip from his cup of ‘water’. “I go out to events and support them and stuff, but I’m busy. Clarke wanted to be involved with the executive board, and now she’s president, which is great. But like… not for me.” Monty’s still smiling at him, and Miller wonders if it’s because he’s already drunk. “No Jasper?” Miller asks, mostly because he needs to remind himself that Monty’s off limits for a number of reasons, but also because Jasper is _actually_ his resident and Miller would _actually_ probably have to leave.

“Nah,” Monty answers. “Not really his scene.” Miller doesn’t think that’s entirely true. Like, Jasper has definitely stumbled into the building drunk before. Parties seem like a thing that Jasper enjoys very much. “How’d you become an RA?” Monty asks, changing the subject. Which is perfectly fine with him. Miller waits for more of an explanation behind the question. “I mean, no offense, but you clearly don’t like lots of people.”

Miller shrugs. Monty’s not wrong.

“My RA was great,” he says. The two of them step out of the way, hugging the wall so people can pass them. “Helped me find myself, I guess. I was stuck in some major I didn’t want to be in because I thought it would make my dad happy and I was skipping meals because I didn’t want to sit in the dining hall alone and he helped me get my shit together. I don’t know. I want to do that for other people.”

Monty leans, resting his hip on the wall. “I like it when you talk,” he says. Miller takes a drink to try and dislodge the knot from his throat. Monty’s gotta be drunk. “I feel like you don’t, a lot.”

“What, talk?”

“Yeah.”

“I talk a standard amount.”

“I like when you talk more than the standard amount,” Monty says. Miller starts chugging his jungle juice. Because maybe Monty’s already drunk, but Miller’s not, and he can’t have conversations like this with Monty without being at least buzzed. “You should start coming back to GSA,” Monty says, clearly not noticing the red on Miller’s cheeks that has nothing to do with alcohol. “You can sit with me if you don’t have anyone.”

Miller shakes his head. “Ah—that’s okay. Thanks though.”

“Offers stands.”

They’re quiet a moment. “Where are you? On the GSA scale. If you don’t mind me asking.”

“The B,” Monty says. “For bisexual. Which isn’t in the name. Because bisexuals are invisible to the entire world, even the GSA sometimes. Which is why it’s great we have Clarke as our president.”

“Cheers to that,” Miller says. “You could kind of lump the B into the G though maybe?”

“It’s not the same. I’m petitioning that we change the GSA to the QSU,” Monty tells him. “It feels more inclusive. And straight people can still come if they’re pressed. And queer can mean anything these days. So people questioning whatever they’re questioning can still hang around.”

“That’s smart,” Miller says. They’re quiet for another beat. “I thought I was bi for a while,” Miller says.

Monty, still smiling, lights up more. “Oh yeah?”

“But then I got my first boyfriend,” Miller says. “And—nope. Super gay.” Monty laughs and Miller wants to spend the rest of the night listening to the sound of it. “I mean it was a mess,” Miller carries on. “High school relationship. And coming out at home was scary. But it was still good, you know?”

Monty nods. “My mom didn’t take it all that well, but she and my dad are still cool with it. She definitely hopes I’ll end up with a girl in the long run though.”

“Ah,” Miller suddenly feels his stomach get heavy. That must mean they don’t like Jasper, which is never great. Miller’s been lucky enough that his dad has always supported him and his boyfriends. “Sorry to hear that,” he says. Monty shrugs.

“It’s not that big of a deal currently,” he says. Which must mean they _do_ like Jasper, which is probably great. No, of course it’s great. It’s important for people to be loved and accepted by their parents no matter who they love. “But whatever. New subject. Do you like shots?”

Miller blanches. “Like, needles?”

Monty rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling again. “Yeah, RA Nate. Because that’s what I meant. Definitely not referencing the party that we’re at at all.”

Miller snorts. “I can’t do shots with you, Monty. You’re a resident.” He more or less confirmed that by freaking calling him _RA Nate_.

“I’m not _your_ resident,” he says, still with a smile. There’s a mischievous smile on Monty’s face and he sort of shimmies, gesturing back toward the kitchen. “One shot,” he says. “So I can keep the memory close to my heart for the rest of my life, that I’ve done shots with an RA, then I’ll never speak of it again.”

Miller rolls his eyes but finally his own drink is kicking in, so he’s smiling too. “Because that’s a great bucket list goal,” he says to Monty. “Taking shots with an RA.”

“It feels super illegal,” Monty says.

“It is,” Miller agrees. Especially because they’re both underage. “But fine. One shot.”

Monty beams before spinning and starting off for the kitchen. Raven and Wells are in there, Raven with a curious eyebrow arched and Wells looking annoyingly bright at the fact that Miller’s following a boy to the counter for shots. “Where’d you find this one?” Wells jokes to Monty.

“He’s my honorary RA,” Monty says, “and I’ve convinced him to take shots with me.”

“Honorary?” Raven asks.

“He basically lives on my floor,” Miller says. “I’ve been looking for you two,” he murmurs. “Bellamy ditched me for Clarke.”

“You sound surprised,” Wells hums. Wells nudges Monty. “Hey. Convince Miller to come back to GSA,” he says. Wells and Raven have been going since freshmen year too. While Raven never really talks about how she identifies, Wells is a big advocate for pansexuality, which is sort of like bisexuality in terms of people being aware of its existence. The two of them and Monty must’ve crossed paths at a meeting or two.

Monty laughs. “I’m working on it. In the meantime…” he trails off, gesturing toward the bottle of vodka on the counter. “Shots?”

One shot ends up turning into three. Raven and Wells join in. And soon Monty’s using Miller to help himself standing, his arm wrapped around Miller’s waist. His words are starting to slur when Miller easily guides them out of the kitchen and toward the couch so Monty can sit down, and once they’re settled Monty decides that resting his head against Miller’s arm is super okay.

There’s a small voice in the back of his head reminding Miller that Monty has a boyfriend.

But the pounding of his heart is so loud that it drowns it out, instead focusing on where Monty’s currently brushing his fingertips over Miller’s knuckles. It’s a moment much too intimate, magnified by the amount of alcohol in Miller’s system. It feels impossible that it’s only friendly.

“Nate,” he says softly. Miller hums. “You’re really cool,” he says.

Miller laughs. “Thanks, Monty.”

“No I…” he trails off, twisting a little so his forehead is actually pressed to Miller’s arm. “I really like hanging out with you. And talking to you.”

“Good thing you know where I live,” Miller murmurs back, “if you ever need to talk.”

“Ugh.” Monty scoffs. “Stop RA-ing me.”

Miller laughs again. “I wasn’t.” His door’s always open to Monty. He says, “You’re cool, too.” Mostly because it sounds better than saying _I think I have an actual crush on you_.

“Good.” Monty twists again, sort of nestling himself closer to Miller’s side, and Miller reminds himself that it doesn’t mean anything. Monty’s drunk, and Monty’s generally a touchy person as evidenced by how he’s always all over Jasper, and drunk people who are also touchy people just like to be close to people. “Can we be friends?” he asks.

“Sorry?”

“Instead of you being RA Nate,” Monty murmurs. He sounds sleepy. With the arm that Monty’s not leaning on, Miller pulls out his phone and texts Bellamy, requesting water for the boy beside him. “I just want you to be Nate.”

“Yeah, Monty,” Miller murmurs back. “I can just be Nate.”

“But other people call you Miller.”

“You can call me Nate,” Miller says gently.

“And we can hang out,” Monty carries on, his words softer and softer. “And play video games and order pizza and not talk about Jasper.”

 _And not talk about Jasper_.

Miller ignores the ache that follows.

* * *

 **From Nate**  
Let me know when you  
make it to your room, okay?

 **From Monty**  
already in bed w a bottle  
of water by my side!!

 **From Monty  
** thx for checking in

 **From Monty  
** but stop RAing me!!

 **From Nate**  
Yeah, it’s impossible that I  
actually cared and wanted to  
make sure you were safe outside  
of my position as an RA.

 **From Monty  
** ur adorable

 **From Monty  
** gnight nate

 **From Nate  
** Goodnight Monty.

* * *

 **From Bellamy**  
Because that was definitely  
not casual friendly touching  
Miller ok I have eyes

 **From Miller  
** Well then you need glasses

 **From Bellamy  
** I’m coming to your room

Miller sighs dramatically, dropping his phone down on his desk before dropping his head into his hands. It’s Monday now and Bellamy is _convinced_ that Miller is in love with Monty over one drunk interaction, and Bellamy’s jumped into Mom Mode™ at once.

It’s not like Miller laid awake in bed and read Monty’s _ur adorable_ text like, twenty times before he went to bed or anything.

“Hey!”

Miller leaps, looking at his door which has been propped open, to find Monty in the doorway. He’s beaming. He’s always fucking beaming, like a ray of sunshine or something.

“Hey,” Miller answers. He stays in his seat at his desk. “What’s up? Where’s Jasper?”

“He’s taking a test or something,” Monty says, waving his hand dismissively. “Can I hang until he’s out?”

Miller looks back to his phone, knowing Bellamy’s on the way, and thinks about the way Monty looked at him on Friday night. “Uh…”

Monty laughs, striding into his room. “Sorry, are you hesitating?”

“What?”

“You said _uh_ ,” Monty says. “That’s hesitation.”

“No, I--what?”

Monty flops down onto Miller’s futon. “Don’t worry Nate,” Monty says, “I won’t _bother_ you. I have work to do too.”

Before Miller can even respond, his heart jumping unfamiliarly in his chest at the _Nate_ without the _RA_ in front of it, the sound of the elevator opening reaches him. “Miller,” Bellamy calls, striding across the hall toward his room. “I know that you think I’m being overbearing, but--” Bellamy lingers in the doorway, finding Monty on the futon. “Hi,” he says.

“Hi,” Monty answers. Beaming again. Fucking sunshine. Bellamy looks thoroughly annoyed.

“Monty,” Bellamy wonders, “right?”

“We’ve met multiple times,” Monty reminds him. Bellamy narrows his eyes slightly before turning back to Miller, looking even _more_ annoyed if possible. “Am I interrupting something?” he asks. “Because honestly I was here first, so.”

Bellamy tips his head to the side dramatically and pulls out his phone. “Just came up to bother Miller,” Bellamy mutters, texting quickly. Miller’s phone chimes on his desk.

Monty scoffs. “That’s so rude!”

“What?” Bellamy asks.

“You’re clearly texting!” Monty frowns at him. “Use your words, Blake!”

 **From Bellamy**  
Doesn’t he have a boyfriend?  
Why is he here without his boyfriend?

Miller needs this entire situation to come to an end. “Monty’s waiting for Jasper to get back from his test,” Miller says calmly. “You can come in if you want to wait too,” he says. Bellamy squints his eyes. Again. “Or you can leave and keep being a baby.”

“Guess I’m coming in,” Bellamy says. He drops down onto the futon beside Monty and Miller whips back around to keep working on the essay he was focused on before Bellamy started harassing him via text message. “How’re you, Monty?”

“Feeling excluded,” he answers, already working on whatever homework he has. But he’s smiling now, meaning he’s joking, and Miller knows this will win Bellamy over. “How about you?”

Bellamy laughs, like Miller knew he would, and the weird tension dissolves.

Bellamy and Monty see each other at GSA meetings but this appears to be the first time they’re actually talking about things. Miller studiously works on his essay but comments every now and then. It isn’t until Bellamy slides Jasper into the conversation does his typing get slower and his attention linger on their conversation.

“I think it’s really cool that you two come to meetings together,” Bellamy says.

Monty laughs. “It’s still not really his thing, but I really wanted to. And where I go Jasper goes, you know?”

Bellamy nods. “I’ve noticed. How long have you two--”

“Feels like forever at this point,” Monty cuts him off. “I mean--God, he drives me insane sometimes. But I love him.” Monty laughs again. “The things you do for love, am I right?”

“Yeah,” Bellamy says gently.

“What about you and Clarke?” Monty asks.

Bellamy stammers. “I--uh, what? No. We’re not--no.”

Miller has to swallow a laugh. Bellamy and Clarke met when she was the only freshman in his upper-level women’s study class and he definitely fell for her after like, a day. It’s been three years now and neither of them have yet to make a move.

“Oh,” Monty holds up his hands with a little laugh. “No--that’s not what I meant,” he says. “Sorry. Just--you two seem close?”

“Oh. Yeah. Um.” Bellamy clears his throat but doesn’t say anything else. The room is insanely quiet.

 **From Monty**  
he’s like super into clarke right  
i didn’t make that up???

Miller laughs at Monty’s text, breaking the awkwardness in the room, but doesn’t text Monty back. Not wanting the silence to linger Miller turns to ask a neutral question when--

“Guess who’s home!”

Jasper’s in the doorway grinning, his arms open wide as though he wants to hug everyone in the room. Monty leaps up.

“Finally,” Monty gushes. “Did you bring--”

“Fries from Grounders? A-duh. As promised.”

“I seriously love you,” Monty says with a grin, one that Jasper returns. “Well thanks for letting me hang,” Monty says as he shoves his things into his backpack. “But I have fries to consume!”

“Bye Monty,” Bellamy says, and Miller offers a wave as he follows Jasper down the hallway to his room. Bellamy and Miller are both quiet before Bellamy stands, kicks the doorstop out from Miller’s door, and lets it slam. “What the _hell_ ,” Bellamy asks, turning to his friend.

Miller drops his head into his hands. “He came over right as you texted,” he mutters. “I swear.”

“Well…!” Bellamy extends his hands, almost as if waiting for the words to come to him rather than searching them out, and Miller sighs again. “I like the kid,” he says.

“Me too,” Miller murmurs. He lifts his head slowly until he meets Bellamy’s eyes, surprised to find him looking sad. Miller shakes his head a little. “I’m not going to do anything stupid,” he says. “Okay? It’s not the first time I’ve liked someone who wasn’t going to like me back. I’ll survive.”

“Yeah, you’ll survive. You’ll just have to see him every day in the meantime because he’s dating your resident. And that’s gonna suck.” Bellamy shrugs. “So if you ever want to like--fucking vent, or something, just let me know.”

Miller nods. “Thanks, Bellamy.”

* * *

Monty starts coming around a lot.

It would be okay, really, if he came around with Jasper. It’s always easier when he visits while Jasper is also there. Sometimes they’ll both sit on Miller’s futon and rant about their classes or about the dining hall or about their days. But mostly Monty comes by himself, nestles himself on Miller’s futon, and the two of them talk.

They talk about everything.

Monty talks about his family back home and he talks about his class load and he talks about his favorite TV shows and he talks about his extracurriculars and he just talks and talks and talks. Miller likes it when he talks.

“Does it bother you?” Monty asks one night, way after quiet hours, way after Miller shut his door so it’s just the two of them inside. “That I hang out?”

“Of course not,” Miller insists. It really, really doesn’t.

Tonight is different.

Tonight Miller’s door is shut because he’s had a long day. Tonight Miller doesn’t want to see anyone, let alone his loud and talkative residents, who have really no room for personal space. Tonight Miller wants to put on his favorite feel-good movie and not work on any homework and sleep.

However, there’s a knock on his door. For a moment he considers ignoring it. It’s not like his residents would really _know_ , not if he’s quiet enough. And maybe it’s someone just passing by anyway. But the RA inside of him forces Miller to his feet, and spotting Monty through the peephole makes him open the door.

He’s been crying. “Hey,” Miller says, ushering him inside. He glances down the hallway looking for Jasper but it’s just Monty, his eyes rimmed with red, smelling like-- “Are you drunk?”

“Please don’t reprimand me,” Monty murmurs, his voice empty. Miller shuts the door behind him and Monty collapses on Miller’s futon, lowering his face to his hands. Miller stays standing. “I don’t need you to be an RA right now,” he says. “I need you to be my friend.”

“I’m always your friend, Monty.”

Monty frowns, looking up at him. “That sounds like something an RA would say.” Miller takes the seat beside him. “I don’t want--advice, or… or like, a follow up, or any RA things. I just need Nate.”

“Monty,” he says gently. “I’m here. What’s going on?”

Monty sniffles. He looks so fucking broken and Miller aches just looking at him. “It’s my parents,” he finally murmurs. He sniffles again, shaking his head slightly. “It’s--they…” Monty sounds wrecked. “They’ve been fighting for a while and I thought--I don’t know. I thought coming to school would make it easier for them to--I don’t know, _talk_ or something.” Miller reaches out on reflex for Monty’s hand, and Monty lets him. “They’re getting divorced.”

“Monty,” Miller says softly, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not--God, I feel so _dumb_.” Monty twists their fingers together and bends, tugging Miller’s hand so his knuckles are pressed to Monty’s forehead. “It’s not like they’re dead or something.” Miller winces on reflex--his mom passed a few years ago--and Monty sits up. They’re still holding hands but Monty looks like a deer in headlights. “Oh--God, Nate, did one of your…”

“It’s--no, it’s fine.”

“I’m so sorry,” he gushes, sounding wrecked. “I didn’t know.”

“Monty,” Miller murmurs. “It’s--don’t worry about it.” Monty’s eyes fill with tears and again, out of reflex, he reaches out with his freehand to cup Monty’s cheek. “I’m okay. Don’t-- _hey_.”

“God I’m--”

“Stop,” Miller says gently. “Hey. It’s okay.” He brushes his thumb to catch one of Monty’s tears. “My mom passed a few years ago. She was sick. But that doesn’t make your situation any less shitty, okay?” Monty sniffles again, leaning into Miller’s hand with his eyes closed. “I’m sorry about your parents,” he says. “That can be hard. But you’re here and you have so much support here and--”

“You’re RAing me,” Monty murmurs, nuzzling closer. Despite it all, Nate laughs, and Monty’s mouth curls into a soft smile. “Thank you,” he whispers. “I--thank you.”

“Sure,” Miller whispers back. They’re still very close. “You can’t use alcohol to solve your problems,” he says. Monty sniffles again. “You want to hang out in here for a bit?” he asks. “I was going to watch Sky High.”

A laugh bubbles out of Monty. “Sky High?”

“It’s my feel-good movie,” he says, slowly easing his hands back to himself. Monty laughs again, reaching up to rub his eyes. “You want me to get Jasper?” he asks.

Monty snorts, dropping his hands and rolling his eyes slightly. “No. Jasper’s not good at things like this.” Miller hesitates, reaching for his computer to set up Netflix so they can watch the movie. “I’ll tell him eventually,” he says. “He just--isn’t great. At this.”

“Talking?” Miller wonders.

“About the serious stuff.”

Miller isn’t entirely sure what that means. And he isn’t sure why Monty chose _him_ to tell this instead. Still, he can’t bring himself to voice this. Instead he settles back on the futon with Monty once the movie’s started, passing him a bottle of water to drink so he won’t be hungover depending on how much alcohol he’s had, and they watch Sky High.

Monty falls asleep against his shoulder.

It feels traitorous, but Miller can’t bring himself to wake him up.

* * *

Being on duty is _the worst_. Like, Miller understands it’s part of his job okay. But making a lap on every floor of the building is pointless. If someone’s being too loud and someone else is annoyed, they should just call the duty phone. He shouldn’t have to be making laps.

He hits the 9th floor, praying that it’s quiet and he doesn’t have to reprimand his residents (like every other RA has to do when they’re doing rounds because his kids just don’t ever shut up), when it hits him.

Miller makes a sharp left off the stairwell and starts for Jasper’s room. “For the love of _God_ , Jordan,” Miller mutters, banging on his door. Two knocks later it swings open and God, fuck, shit, it’s Monty, and, “It smells like weed.”

“That’s really interesting,” Monty says quickly. “Because it’s certainly not this room that it’s coming from, no sirree.”

Miller narrows his eyes at him. Monty takes a glance over his shoulder where Jasper’s sprawled out in bed before stepping outside. He puts himself into Miller’s space and Miller steps back, thrown by Monty being so close.

“You can’t yell about me RAing you if you’re going to break the rules so I physically have to RA you,” Miller says.

“I love that RA has become a verb now.”

Miller narrows his eyes again. “Monty.” Sometimes Miller hates his job. But he’s given Jasper way too many free passes, and his floor fucking reeks. “I can’t keep letting you guys off the hook,” he says.

Monty scoffs. “You say _you guys_ like I’m the one getting high here.” Monty crosses his arms over his chest. “I know not to smoke when you’re on duty, Nate. How dare you.” Miller’s sure he should have a response but Monty’s words have done something funny to his throat. “I don’t want to have to put you in that position,” Monty adds, a touch softer. “So it’s not _me_.”

But still. “Jasper, then.”

“He was high when I got here,” Monty says. And it’s clear he’s annoyed. Monty stands up straight. “Look, I’ll do that sobriety test and everything,” he says, stretching out his arms and tapping his nose with each pointer finger. Miller sighs. “Listen he’s zonked, okay?” Monty sighs too, shaking his head. “We got in a fight earlier and I was coming over to talk and--just. If you want to write him up, then do it. Just leave my name out of it.”

Miller takes a step back. He should really finish his rounds. “What’s with you two always getting in fights?” Miller asks.

Monty shrugs as he crosses his arms over his chest. “College is harder than home, I guess.”

Miller nods. That’s true.

“Well,” Miller says, “I can go back in my room at 11:30 if you want to come over and talk.”

Monty rolls his eyes, but that fond smile of his is back. “You’re RAing me again.”

“Yeah,” Miller says. “But you like it.”

Monty’s smile grows. Miller continues his rounds. He doesn’t write anyone up. Not even when he has to knock on Fox’s door (913, another one of his residents) and ask her to turn down her absurdly loud rap music.

When Miller’s finally off shift and he returns to his room, he’s surprised that Monty actually takes him up on the offer. With a small knock Miller lets him in and he collapses on Miller’s futon without words. He smells like weed, but only because he was in the same room as Jasper. He’s seen Monty high before and it’s not like this.

“How’ve you been?” Miller asks. He sits on his bed instead of the futon with Monty, crossing his legs under him.

Monty shrugs. “Could be better,” he admits. Miller nods, and Monty fiddles with the hem of his shirt. “Thanks,” he says. “For, um. The other day.” Miller tips his head into a slight nod. “You don’t--you don’t have to take care of me, you know.”

“You’re the one who showed up at my door,” Miller reminds him.

Monty smiles, but it’s not a _real_ smile. “You could’ve told me to go.”

“I’ve told you before, Monty,” Miller says, “that I’m allowed to care about you.” Monty looks over and up at him, his smile a little more full. “I’m sorry about your parents,” he says. “And then--a fight with Jasper? What the heck, man?”

A little laugh bubbles out of Monty. “Not my week, huh?” Miller shakes his head. “I mean--this is weird, because you’re actually his RA. But like.” Monty rubs at his face a little. “Jasper’s real quick to turn to stuff to numb his pain, you know? Smoking or drinking. And I just--I enjoy that stuff, it’s just not how I cope.”

“No?” Miller wonders.

“I gave it a shot,” Monty admits. “But then I ended up here anyway. I’ve got to _talk_ about stuff.”

“I’ve been told I’m a good listener,” Miller reminds him. Monty wags his finger at Miller in a silent reprimand. Probably for being an RA again. It’s hard for him to say it but he thinks Monty needs to hear it. “I do care about you, though.”

“Thank you,” Monty says after a moment of silence. “I care about you too.”

* * *

 **From Monty  
** u going out tonight?

 **From Nate**  
Bellamy’s dragging me to  
that GSA thing so yeah.

 **From Nate  
** You gonna be there?

 **From Monty**  
yea but jasp’s coming too  
which means we prob can’t  
do shots together this time

 **From Nate  
** Oh no, my heart is breaking.

 **From Monty  
** ur dramatic!!!

 **From Monty  
** see you there

* * *

Miller’s super drunk.

He tends not to get _super_ drunk, because like, he’s not a mess. And the thing about getting caught and losing his job and his housing is always lingering. But it’s happened. Raven just kept passing him shots and Miller saw Monty and Jasper in the corner earlier and so, he just wanted to be drunk. And now he is. Very drunk.

He talked to Jasper earlier in the night before either of them had consumed any alcohol and though it was probably definitely seriously against his contract to stay at the party they agreed that they would just avoid each other for the night and never mention it again. Miller’s not a police officer, he’s an RA. He just wants his residents to be safe. And Miller’s also human so he wants to have fun. And now he’s drunk.

His phone keeps buzzing in his pocket but Miller’s pretty sure it’s Monty and if he even pulls his phone out he’s going to say something stupid, so he just lets it buzz.

“Hey,” Bellamy sits on the couch beside him, his hair a mess and his cheeks flushed. “You’re super drunk,” he says. A great observation.

“Yes.”

Bellamy scans the room. “Don’t talk to Monty,” he says.

Miller frowns. His phone buzzes again. He considers pulling it out this time.

“I _like_ talking to Monty.”

“Yes, I know. But not when you’re super drunk.”

“He’s got his stupid fucking boyfriend anyway,” Miller says. “But that’s the stupid fucking problem because Jasper’s obviously great and cares about him so it’s rude of me to say he’s stupid.” Miller scrubs at his face. “Are they like, making out? Drunk making out? God I love making out.”

“Miller,” Bellamy says with a laugh. “They’re both off with different friends. Okay?”

“Is Bryan here?” Miller asks, clinging to any thought that isn’t Monty no matter how bad of a thought it is. “He’d probably still make out with me.”

“ _No_ , Miller,” Bellamy says, still with a little laugh. “You’re not making out with your ex.”

“God, he fucking sucks.” Miller groans. He just wants _someone_ because it’s fun and makes him feel warm and reminds him he’s not a useless piece of trash that’s going to end up alone for the rest of his life. And then--yes, a brilliant idea. He turns to Bellamy. “How drunk are _you_?” he asks. Bellamy tips his head as though considering his answer. “What if _we_ made out in _stead_?”

Bellamy grins, like he always does when he’s drunk like this. “Why do you always want to make out with people when you’re drunk?” he asks with a laugh. Still, he reaches for Miller, and Miller reaches for him, and God Miller _loves making out with people when he’s drunk_. Like, so much.

They’ve made out before because honestly fuck it and Bellamy does this thing with his tongue that’s very appealing that Miller can’t seem to get enough off. Generally Miller’s more dominating in terms of like, kissing, but with Bellamy they’re a pretty even match. Miller climbs onto Bellamy’s lap and rocks his hips and there’s groaning and teeth colliding and when Bellamy breaks off to suck on his neck Miller knows he’s going to have at least one hickey in the morning and--

“Alright, alright,” Clarke’s voice cuts in after awhile, bright and teasing, and Miller slides off of Bellamy with a grin. “Maybe get a room next time?” she jokes with a smile. Bellamy swings his arm over Miller’s shoulder and turns, pressing his forehead to Miller’s temple.

It’s intimate and familiar and Miller loves the way it makes him feel.

* * *

He’s hungover in the morning and wakes up to like, dozens of texts he wants nothing to do with. The first being:

 **From Monty**  
sooo last night was s/t  
else am i right… hahah

Miller racks his brain trying to think of when he talked to Monty, if at all, and falls flat. They didn’t talk at all. There’re other texts there from earlier in the night, texts wondering if Miller wants to sneak a shot in anyway, texts wondering where Miller’s gone, texts that Miller never answered. He can’t look at them without feeling some sort of guilt.

The next is:

 **From Bellamy**  
I hope you have just as many  
hickeys as I do because god  
dammit Miller hahaha

Miller opens Snapchat and snorts at the dark marks down his neck before he texts Bellamy back. There’re a few Snapchats queued up from last night that Miller hadn’t opened and--wow. Yep. He and Bellamy really went for it last night.

There’re Snapchats from Raven and Snapchats from Wells and Snapchats from Murphy and Snapchats from himself on Bellamy’s phone and Miller’s probably never going to drink again. Miller turns on his side and sighs.

 **From Monty  
** r u hungover? wanna grab food?

Miller stares at the message. He is hungover. Definitely. His head is killing him. But food would probably be a good idea.

 **From Nate  
** Grounders in 15?

 **From Monty  
** see ya there

* * *

Monty keeps looking at the marks on Miller’s neck. It’s not like Miller’s tried to hide them. And besides, what’s it matter anyway? Monty has a boyfriend. Monty is in a long term committed relationship. Miller made out with his best friend last night. It happens. People move on.

Monty opens and closes his mouth a few times but never manages to say anything.

“Spit it out, Green,” Miller finally says after swallowing a bite of his grilled cheese. “I can’t read your mind.”

Monty dunks his fries into his cup of ketchup for a long time. “I don’t know,” he finally says. “I didn’t realize you and Bellamy were--like that, I guess.”

“Like that,” Miller echoes.

“Together?” Monty tries. Miller arches an eyebrow. “C’mon, Nate,” Monty says tiredly. “You guys made out for like, the whole night.” Miller wants to tell him it wasn’t the _entire_ night, but he doesn’t. Because--

“So what?”

Monty pokes at his food. “I don’t know,” he says again.

 _You have someone_ , Miller wants to snap. He doesn’t understand why he’s so _angry_. But it’s there, just below his skin, fucking burning. _It could’ve been you, it didn’t have to be Bellamy_. Miller takes another bite of his sandwich.

“At least you had a fun night,” Monty says after a beat of silence. There’s a gentle smile on his face now, one that cools Miller down in an instant. Who’s he kidding? He can’t stay mad at Monty for long. And to be fair, he doesn’t have a valid reason to be.

Monty deserves an explanation.

“We’re not together, Monty,” Miller says. “We were drunk. And bored. It happens all the time.”

Monty’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead. “Is that what you do when you’re drunk and bored, RA Nate?” Miller may or may not choke on his next bite and Monty’s smile is back, cute and dangerous. “Well clearly I should not try to avoid you for the entire party next time. I mean I _tried_ texting you, but you were clearly preoccupied.”

Miller’s definitely going to need a doctor to come and perform CPR. He coughs into his arm violently. “You were avoiding me?” he finally manages.

“I mean I was with Jasper,” Monty says. “And if you can’t see Jasper and Jasper can’t see you because of weird RA rules, that kind of has me avoiding you too.” Monty’s smile slips. “We got in a fight, though.”

“Again?” Miller presses, still trying to get control of his windpipes.

“Nothing new,” Monty mutters. “Something dumb. Just. I had more fun when I went out without him last time. You know?” His eyes meet Miller’s for a moment before he looks down again. “When it was me and you.”

This is bad. This is really, seriously bad. Because this isn’t the only time Monty’s said something like this, that he’d rather be with Miller in some capacity than with Jasper. Or even mentioning that he and Jasper got in a fight. First was with the issue from home, and now this? Insinuating that he wants to make out? This is super, super bad.

“Monty…” Miller trails off, not even sure what to say. Monty’s still looking down. No words follow. They’re both quiet. Grounders is alive around them, people coming out of their rooms for an early lunch or a late breakfast, but neither of them speak.

 _What do you mean?_ That’s what Miller wants to ask. Because clearly something is jumbled up here. Something is not making sense. Because there’s no way Monty would ever do something like that to Jasper--to _anyone_. Monty isn’t the type. Miller _knows_ the type. He just can’t find the words.

They finish their meal in silence.

* * *

They’re well into October by the time Miller has his first serious incident while on duty.

As an RA with a big staff, he really only has to work one night a week every few weeks. It’s a Saturday though and there’s a big football game and everyone’s drunk. He’s working with Monroe tonight, because weekends need two RAs at the desk instead of one, and she’s good enough company.

Still, when Jasper comes in from the game a little buzzed, he hangs out at the front desk for a while just to chat. Fox is already there, going on and on about some audition she’s working on, so it’s okay that Jasper stays too. It’s not uncommon that his residents linger every now and then to talk, and Jasper’s waiting for Monty anyway, so he sticks around.

That’s not the incident. Jasper would never escalate anything to an _incident._

The incident occurs a little past midnight when a guy who’s slightly taller and slightly larger than Miller brings in a girl who’s clearly drunk. She doesn’t have on any shoes and she there’s vomit on her shirt and there’s a look in his eyes that makes Miller sick.

“Hey,” Miller stands suddenly, making his way from the front desk, stopping them from getting on the elevator. “No,” he says.

The guy looks at him. Might be one of the athletes on Atom’s floor now that he thinks of it. And he _sneers_. “Excuse me?” Athlete asks.

“You’re not taking this girl upstairs,” Miller says. The guy pulls her closer and reaches around to press the button for the elevator again. “Monroe,” he calls over his shoulder, “call an ambulance--and supervisor on call, okay?”

“Got it,” she calls back.

“Hey, fuck off,” the guy says. “I’m just taking care of her.”

“No, you fuck off,” Miller says. It’s times like this he wishes their university had a system where every resident had to be signed into the building, making sure to sign in guests too. It’s a little too lax here and it makes him nervous. “C’mere,” he says, gesturing toward the girl. But she’s so drunk or maybe just _gone_ that she can only sway, looking sick. Still, she reaches out for Miller. “Jasper,” he calls out, needing backup of _some kind_ , “grab me a trashcan.”

“You’re the faggot RA,” the athlete says, sneering again. The weight of the world settles in Miller’s ribcage and makes it hard to breathe. “Aren’t you?”

“Call me that again,” Miller says, as calmly as he can manage, “and you’ll be sitting in student conduct for a month.”

“What,” he asks, “faggot?” Miller clenches his teeth and strides forward, physically getting in between him and the girl who’s actively trying to get away from the guy at this point. “You’re such a cocksucking faggot you can’t even understand when us normals manage to--hey!” Miller slips his arm between the two of them and pulls the girl away forcefully. “You fucking--” he grips Miller’s arm rougher than necessary and tugs. Miller manages to push the girl in Jasper’s direction before the guy swings.

It’s a suckerpunch and it hurts like a bitch.

 _Don’t lose your job, don’t lose your job, don’t_ \-- “You gonna fight me or what, _faggot_?”

All Miller can see is red.

* * *

Miller’s door slams shut behind him and in the silence he can finally breathe. One breath, two. He lifts up and scrubs at his face, his nose and upper lip still sore, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes. _Breathe, breathe, breathe_. There’s a soft knock on his door, an almost timid one, and Miller considers not answering it. But whoever it is clearly knows that he’s there. He did just slam his fucking door, after all. One more breath, another. Miller spins back around and slowly pulls open the door.

Monty’s on the other end, his eyes dark with worry. “Are you okay?” he asks softly. Miller glances out into the hall before opening his door a touch wider, allowing Monty inside. “Jasper told me what happened,” Monty says.

Miller closes the door behind him, clenching his jaw and trying to breathe still, breathe, breathe. “I’m fine,” Miller finally says.

“Nate.”

“I’m fine,” he says again. He turns to look at Monty, making sure Monty can see and clearly understand him. “There have always been people like that,” Miller says shortly. “I’ve been fortunate enough to not come in contact with too many.” _Breathe, breathe_. He shakes his head at Monty. “I know who I am, he can’t take that from me.”

“It’s still not okay,” Monty says. “The way he treated you—”

“I’m fine,” Miller cuts him off again. Monty looks down to the ground. They both stand in silence a moment. “You should go.”

Monty looks up again, the worry gone from his eyes but now there’s sadness instead. “Nate,” he says softly.

Miller wants him to stay. Monty’s presence is comforting and his room feels empty without another person in it. And honestly, Miller’s afraid that if he’s alone he’s going to fucking punch his wall and break his hand. But this is _Monty_. And Monty without Jasper by his side is dangerous, simply because Miller tends to forget that Monty’s taken when they’re alone together.

So Miller’s about to tell him to go again when Monty sinks down onto his futon. “I’ve got this English paper due in a few days,” he says, swinging his backpack around so he can dig out his laptop. “And you’re an English major. And I’m totally not going to use you for your brain, but like, would you be willing to look at it?”

Miller’s throat feels thick. Monty looks up at him with a small smile. _You should go_ he wants to say another time. But instead Miller sinks down onto the futon beside him with a nod.

“Sure, Monty.”

Monty hums in quiet thanks before he opens his laptop and clicks through to pull up his paper. Miller zones out, staring at his screen, not really watching as the file is opened, when suddenly Monty’s squeezing his hand.

“You don’t have to,” he says. Miller turns to look at him, their eyes meeting. For a moment, Miller thinks he’s still talking about editing a paper. “But if you want to talk about it, you can.” Miller holds his gaze. He knows, without any sliver of doubt, that Monty’s serious. “I’m here.”

Miller shatters. “They might fire me,” he whispers. Monty shoves his laptop aside and turns to face him completely. “I hit him, Monty. I--” Miller’s eyes are somewhere else but Monty’s holding both of his hands now. “I hit him,” he says again.

“I know,” Monty whispers back.

“They’ll probably fire me.” That thought alone, the fact that this job he loves so much, that everything he’s worked for, might be taken from him is devastating. It makes it hard to breathe. “Can’t have RAs going around fucking punching residents in the face, and--”

“Jasper said that the supervisor on call wasn’t angry,” Monty cuts him off gently. It was only one punch, to get him off of him, to get him _away_ , and then Miller’s hands flew up. It was probably on the lobby cameras. But the kid didn’t come after him after that, and Monroe called the police, and the ambulance took the girl away, and there were plenty of witnesses as to what happened. But. “You did a lot of good tonight, Nate,” Monty says. “You made sure that girl was taken care of. And you stood up for yourself.”

“I wanted to hit him again,” Miller rasps. “I didn’t want to stop.”

Monty squeezes his hands. “Well let’s not tell anyone that, huh?”

Part of him wants to laugh but more than anything, Miller’s afraid. “If I lose this job,” he starts, but Monty squeezes his hands again.

“Then you can stay in my dorm until you figure out what to do,” Monty says, and it doesn’t sound like a joke as much as it sounds like a serious offer. “Just wait to talk to your supervisor on Monday,” Monty says. “If you need witnesses you have Jasper and Fox, and that other girl who was on duty with you. Just. Don’t freak out. Okay?” Miller’s trying really, really hard not to freak out. “We can put on Sky High?” he offers.

It’s _that_ which gets Miller to laugh. Monty smiles, looking warm like the sun. Miller pulls his hands back and forces himself to his feet. He scrubs his hands over his head.

“Aren’t you, uh--didn’t you come over for Jasper?” he asks. “I’m really okay, Monty. You don’t have to--”

“It’s fine, Nate,” Monty says. “I want to stay.”

Miller’s not in the sort of state to push him away, either. He takes a deep breath before rejoining Monty on his futon.

They turn on Sky High and fall asleep with their fingers brushing.

* * *

 **From Bellamy**  
If you get fired I’m literally  
going to sue the housing  
department

 **From Miller  
** Well

 **From Bellamy**  
When’s your meeting with  
Kane? Man I can’t believe I  
had to hear the story from  
fucking Zoe!!!!

 **From Miller**  
Forgive me for not wanting  
to give you live updates of  
being harassed and punched  
in the face

 **From Bellamy  
** Fuck. Dammit. I hate this.

 **From Bellamy**  
You’re a great fucking RA.  
This is bullshit. I want to punch  
that guy in the face so bad.

 **From Miller  
** Kane’s here. Gotta go.

 **From Bellamy  
** Good luck.

* * *

“I’m sorry,” Kane murmurs, diverting his eyes from the screen where he’s watching the replay of the fight. Miller’s looking down at Kane’s desk, staring at various knickknacks to try and calm himself. “He said _what_ to you?”

“No offense, sir,” Miller murmurs, “but I’d rather not repeat it again.”

Kane sighs, dragging his hand through his thick hair. “Jesus Christ, Nathan. No wonder you hit him.” Miller sits in silence. _No wonder you hit him, but rules are rules_. “I’ve spoken with Thelonious,” Kane says after another beat of silence, referencing the head of the Resident Assistant program. “We’ve decided to keep you on.”

Miller’s stomach drops. He looks up. “What?”

“In a typical situation,” Kane says, “it would be an automatic firing offense. But in this situation,” he says, gesturing to the computer screen, “you’d been provoked and attacked first and put the safety of the girl above your own. It’s a noble thing.”

Miller’s throat feels dry. “You’re not firing me?” he asks.

Kane smiles. “Hell no.” He looks back to his computer. “I almost wish you’d have hit him harder,” Kane murmurs, his voice dropping a little, managing to get a ghost of a laugh from Miller. “Though I doubt it will happen, based on the circumstances, but if any charges are pressed against you the University is going to cover all expenses and legal necessities. Which brings me to my next point. Are _you_ going to press charges?”

* * *

Miller doesn’t end up pressing charges, because after further conversation with Kane he’s thoroughly convinced the guy’s going to lose his sports scholarship. Arkadia University can suck sometimes, but they don’t fuck around with discrimination of any kind. Which is great.

It’s kind of freeing to know that he’s going to be okay and that the world can continue on even after he was pretty sure it was going to end.

It feels like a spring afternoon even though it’s the middle of fall and everything is warm. Miller’s door is propped open like usual and he’s working on yet another essay. There’s a knock on his doorframe, one that he recognizes, and he doesn’t have to turn to know that Monty’s there. He turns anyway.

“Hey,” Miller says.

“Hi,” Monty returns. “I hear you’re keeping your job,” Monty says. Miller nods, trying to fight off his smile and failing. Monty beams. “Cool. I mean, I was excited to room with you until you got your life together again, but this is okay too.”

Miller laughs. “Well thanks, I guess.”

He pulls out something from behind his back and enters Miller’s room to place it on his desk. “This is for you.” Miller arches an eyebrow. It’s like, a cactus. Or something. Miller does not have a vast knowledge of succulents. It’s small and green and pointy and it’s in a tiny clay pot.

“Is this a glad-you-didn’t-get-fired present, or…”

“No. I mean, I am glad, don’t get me wrong. But. Your room needed some green.” Miller wonders if Monty’s intentionally making a pun, and by the smile on his face Miller’s pretty sure he does. “Plants are good for the soul,” he says. “And your room is barren and empty.”

Miller rolls his eyes. “I don’t need a plant, Monty.”

“Too bad. It’s yours now.”

“I don’t _want_ a plant,” Miller tries.

“It’s a gift, I don’t care if you want it or not.”

“I’m not going to take care of it,” Miller tells him.

“Ha. Okay.” Monty steps backwards, waving. He’s still smiling. Miller really likes it when Monty smiles. “Yes you are. Bye, Nate.”

“Monty,” he warns, but even Miller can hear the fondness in his own voice. Monty’s down the hall before Miller can stop him.

* * *

 **From Nate**  
If it dies you can’t get  
mad at me.

 **From Monty**  
i’m thoroughly convinced  
that you’re not going to kill  
the plant that i gave you

Miller’s laying in bed, his plant still on his desk, trying to will himself to sleep. He’s texting Monty instead.

 **From Nate  
** How was your day?

 **From Monty**  
pretty good!! i got a lot of  
work done on my computer  
program and had lunch w  
clarke which--can we get lunch  
2morrow?

 **From Nate**  
Are you going to swipe for me?  
Because I’m out of meals for  
the week.

 **From Monty**  
ugh, why am i always taking  
care of you?

 **From Monty**  
just kidding, yes ofc i’ll swipe  
for you

 **From Nate**  
Don’t whine. You like taking care  
of me.

 **From Monty  
** you’re super right there nate

 **From Nate**  
How come when I try to take care  
of you though you accuse me of  
RA-ing you? Questions, questions.

 **From Monty  
** maybe bc you’re always RAing me!!!

 **From Monty  
** but it’s cute so i’m lettin it slide

 **From Nate  
** Goodnight, Monty.

 **From Monty  
** see you for lunch!

* * *

Miller’s done with classes for the day when he heads back to his room to drop off his books before meeting Monty for lunch. In that brief span of time, however, Jasper ends up in his room. He’s running his mouth about something, a test he has to go take maybe, when he pauses. Miller follows Jasper’s hand as he points at the plant Monty left on his desk.

“Monty gave you a plant?” Jasper asks, his eyebrows high on his forehead and a grin on his face. “Dang. He only gives plants to people he really likes.” Miller tries not to choke. “I have like, twelve.”

 _Of course you do_ , Miller thinks bitterly.

“He just kind of left it here,” Miller explains. He always finds himself trying to explain whatever it is that’s going on between him and Monty to Jasper as something less than it is. That’s a problem. Miller knows that it’s a problem. “I mean you can take it,” he says.

“Uh, no. Didn’t you hear me say I have like, twelve? I can barely keep up.” He places his hand on Miller’s shoulder and squeezes. “Don’t let it die, dude. That would suck.”

“I’ve been watering it,” Miller mutters.

Jasper laughs, squeezing again. “Of course you have.” They start for Miller’s door, Jasper needing to get to class while Miller has lunch waiting for him. “Oh, that’s right,” Jasper says. “You and Monty are grabbing food, right?”

“Mm-hm.”

Jasper’s eyebrows waggle and Miller feels uncomfortable. He presses the button to call the elevator instead of thinking about it for too long. “Like a _date_ ,” he jokes.

Miller shakes his head, a forced laugh crawling out of him. “Uh, no. Not like a date.”

“I’m just joking, Miller,” Jasper says. _Obviously_. Because Miller’s not going to go on a date with Jasper’s fucking boyfriend. “Chillax.” They board the elevator together, Jasper still rambling on about his test, and ride it down to the lobby. “Don’t have too much fun,” Jasper teases once they set off on different paths.

The guilt in Miller’s stomach is cold.

* * *

Of course, seeing Monty though happens to get rid of the guilt easily. Monty’s just so freaking _warm_ and Miller likes being around him _so much_ that when they’re alone, Jasper’s generally the farthest thing from his mind.

Miller’s aware this is horrible. This is really, super horrible. He just can’t help himself.

Lunch turns into a walk so they can stop at the post office on campus to pick up their mail. Monty’s mailbox is empty but Miller’s has a few cards in it, two of which are from his father. “Aw,” Monty says thoughtfully, looking at the brightly colored paper. “It’s cute that your dad writes you.”

Miller tucks his extra cards under his arm so he can open one at a time. “He’s been taking this card-making class,” he tells Monty, showing him the card he pulls out. It’s not very good, but it’s clear that David’s put a lot of effort into it. “Keeps him busy.”

Monty’s smiling so brightly. “That’s like, the best.”

“My dad’s great, yeah.”

They start walking back toward the dorms. “Are you two close?” he asks. “I feel like you don’t talk about him that often.”

Miller shrugs. He’s not a man of many words. But he and his dad, they’re pretty close. They text a lot and make sure to call at least once a week. David Miller may or may not already know who Monty is and how Miller is very aware of his dumb feelings for him. Most of David’s text in response are, _that’s rough, buddy_ , which is ironic considering he’s probably never seen Avatar: The Last Airbender.

“Yeah,” Miller finally says. “I mean, I wish I was closer to home so I could visit, but it’s a couple hours away.” Miller switches the cards around so he can open the other one. This one is more recent and is significantly better than the last. There’s also ten dollars tucked inside. He shows it to Monty who grins in response. “He’s a cop, yeah? So he’s just always worried about me.”

“I’m sure he freaked when you told him about your incident a few weeks ago.”

Miller frowns. “Nope. Because I didn’t tell him.” David knows about things like Monty, not things like getting punched in the face.

“Ugh, c’mon, Nate. You’re supposed to tell parents those things.”

“I don’t need him worrying more than he has to,” Miller says.

The afternoon drips into the evening and Monty, like usual, ends up on Miller’s futon. They opt to shut the door today after they get off the elevator and find the floor smelling like weed, and Miller is _seriously_ not in the mood to write up the kids in 904 _again_ (but at least it isn’t Jasper this time). Monty pulls out his laptop to get work done and Miller does the same and it’s frustrating that it feels so domestic and easy between them.

Miller can picture every day being like this. The two of them getting lunch before coming back here and working on homework together. Then they’d climb into bed and pull one another close and fall asleep like that, and--God, Miller needs to get his head out of the fucking gutters.

“Sorry that I’m always over here,” Monty says, not looking up from his screen.

“Don’t be,” Miller says.

Monty’s eyes crawl from his screen. “My roommate really sucks,” Monty says. He closes his laptop a little. “I never talk about him because I’m worried you’re going to like, go all RA on me.” Miller rolls his eyes and Monty laughs. “I’m serious though, he’s the worst.”

“How so?” Miller asks. Monty purses his lips. Miller holds up his hands. “Fine, don’t tell me.”

“He’s just generally awful,” Monty says. “Like, stereotypical frat boy. Racist and sexist never _cleans_ oh God the place is a mess all the time.” Miller laughs, slumping down into the seat beside Monty. They’re always close like this. It’s friendly. Just friendly. “What do I do?”

“Oh, obviously just murder the guy,” Miller says.

Monty scoffs. “What?”

“You said I can’t go all RA on you,” Miller reminds him. “So like, murder is the way to go instead of asking your RA for a roommate agreement form.” Monty laughs and Miller smiles and Miller _likes this_. “That’ll teach him not to be a shitty human being.”

“I mean you’re not wrong.”

“Full disclosure,” Miller says, leaning closer. “Killing your roommate is a bad idea.”

Monty laughs again and Miller is in love with the sound. “Ah, shit, you’re probably right.”

They’re both quiet for a minute, Monty back to work, before Miller says, “But actually the easiest way is to just tell him to get his shit together.” Monty huffs and Miller looks somewhere else, trying to look innocent. But c’mon, he’s an RA. This stuff is hardwired in him. “Direct communication is the best.”

“Right, right, right,” Monty says dramatically. “Of _course_.”

“It’s better to just be like, hey shitty roommate whatever your name is, clean up your side of the room, instead of like, waiting for him to figure out how you feel about his mess.” Miller shrugs. “He might not even notice it.”

Monty hums, again dramatically, before getting back to work. “I’ll consider it.”

“Also, your RA is garbage if he’s not around to back you up. No offense.”

Monty grins. “None taken.”

* * *

 **From Bryan**  
It was cool to see you on  
campus today. We should  
get lunch and catch up  
sometime!

“Nate?” Miller looks up from where he’s been staring at his phone, over to Monty on his futon (because Monty is _always_ on his futon), and sets his phone down. “You okay?” he asks.

Miller nods. “Yeah.” It feels like a lie. It’s probably because it’s a lie. “Sure.”

“I don’t believe you,” Monty says. “You’ve been staring at your phone for like ten minutes.” He sits up a bit. “What’s wrong?”

Miller sighs. He doesn’t want to talk about this with Monty. Bellamy would be ideal. Or Wells, even. But not Monty. Still, neither of his other friends are around and--

“It’s my ex,” Miller says. He looks back to his phone, shaking his head. He should’ve just waved it off, really. Deleted the text and moved on. Or told Monty to stop RAing him. That would show him, turning the tables like that. But Miller’s a fucking idiot, so he keeps talking. “We’ve--I’m fine.”

“ _Nate_.”

“It rubs me the wrong way, I guess,” Miller says. They were together for a long time, him and Bryan, and they didn’t end on great terms. It wasn’t much better when Bryan got into _another_ relationship just over a week after he and Miller ended things. He and his new boyfriend are super happy all the time and always posting Instagrams and disgustingly cute Facebook statuses about each other and it makes Miller feel lonely. “I just want something like that again,” Miller murmurs, holding his phone.

Things with Bryan, when they were good, they were _good_. There’re moments with Monty sometimes that reminds Miller of those moments, where Miller feels warm and Monty’s beaming at him and the world around them is quiet. It feels unfair to have moments like that without them meaning things. It feels unfair to see other people, Bryan and his new boyfriend, Monty and Jasper, happy and in love with Miller’s over here lonely, longing for someone who can’t want him back.

Or rather, _shouldn’t_ want him back.

Miller stands. He needs to pace, it helps clear his head.

“I’m okay,” he murmurs.

Because a friendship with Monty, even if it means moments that make him want something more, is better than nothing. And he knows that.

Monty stands, too. “You deserve something like that again,” Monty tells him. Miller spins to look at him. The space between them feels vast. “Someone who treats you like that.”

Miller’s voice feels is small. “You don’t know how he treated me,” he says.

Monty smiles. “If you want it again,” he says, “then it must’ve been good.” _It was_ , Miller wants to say. But he can’t stop looking at Monty, feeling warm just by his gaze. “You deserve,” Monty starts again, stepping toward him, “someone who’s going to make you smile. Make you happy.” Miller’s rooted to his spot but Monty keeps slowly coming closer. “Someone who really cares about you,” he says, a touch softer.

 _I care about you too_ , Monty had said a while back.

Miller swallows.

“Because you’re great,” Monty tells him, reaching out for him. “I really think you’re great.”

Miller may be a romantic at heart, but he never thought even just holding the hand of someone he liked this much would make his heart beat faster. Monty’s fingers are careful, just like he is, lightly tracing over Miller’s knuckles in gentle circles as the silence hangs between them. Even with Miller’s door shut to keep out nosy residents he feels like he’s being watched. Like he isn’t allowed to have this moment.

“Nate,” Monty says softly.

 _You’re not allowed to want this,_ Miller reminds himself. “You should go,” he says.

Monty grips his hands a little tighter. “Just, let me…” he starts, but Miller shakes his head. The silence lingers. Monty’s still holding his hands. He takes a step closer and Miller’s breath catches in his throat. “Nate,” he tries again. “I…”

There’re words here that neither of them are saying and that alone is terrifying. Monty wants to say something. And Miller doesn’t know if he wants to hear it.

Monty licks his lips and tips his chin forward and Miller’s resolve crumbles. “I want to,” he rasps, his own lips dry. He wants to kiss Monty so badly. Monty’s face changes dramatically. His eyes are wide and hopeful, his lips part slightly. “But I can’t.”

“Why not?” he asks, his eyes narrowing.

“You _know_ why,” Miller says, sounding wrecked. Monty opens his mouth again to speak but Miller can’t handle it, he can’t let this go any further. “Monty,” Miller murmurs, trying to stop whatever it is that Monty’s about to say.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Monty whispers.

Miller’s heart breaks. “You have to go,” he rasps. Partly because he’s afraid he’s really going to kiss him now, but mostly because of Jasper. Not only is Jasper his resident but he’s a _good guy_. And if--if Monty’s willing to cheat on Jasper then maybe… maybe he’s not who Miller thinks he is after all. “Go,” he says again.

“ _Nate_ \--”

Miller steps away and gestures toward his door. “Jesus Christ, Monty, _go_!”

Monty flinches and starts for the door, looking sad and conflicted and hurt and--Miller turns away from him. He doesn’t look up until he hears his door shut.

* * *

 **From Miller**  
I’m fucked I’m fucked  
I’m so fucking fucked

 **From Bellamy**  
What’s going on? I’m  
coming to your room.

* * *

Bellamy opens the door without knocking, finding Miller sitting on his futon with his head in his hands. “Miller,” he says carefully. He shuts the door behind him. “What’s going on?” Miller doesn’t know what to say so he opts to keep his mouth shut instead. “Monty related?” he guesses.

Miller lets out a long breath. This is getting out of hand and he knows it. It’s been getting out of hand for a long time now but tonight was way past that, tonight was too much.

“I almost kissed him,” Miller finally says. Bellamy, the truly loyal friend that he is, doesn’t react. It’s a fucking blessing. “He wanted me to kiss him, I’m pretty sure,” Miller carries on, his voice tight, “and I almost did it.”

“He wanted you to kiss him?” Bellamy echoes, needing confirmation.

“He--fuck, Bellamy.” Miller looks up feeling frustrated and unable to think and the words rush out of him. “He was holding my fucking hands and said he wouldn’t _tell_ anyone like--what the _fuck_!” He was looking at Miller all hopeful with warmth and want in his eyes and he wanted Miller to kiss him. And Miller wanted to kiss him.

Bellamy’s still quiet. “This is fucked,” he says. “You have to say something to Jasper.”

Miller drops his head back into his hands. “But nothing happened,” Miller tries to reason. Nothing between Monty and Miller actually _happened_. Miller hates himself for thinking this, though, because if he was with someone who was doing what Monty’s doing to Jasper, he’d want to know. It would still feel like cheating. “How am I supposed to start that conversation, Bellamy?” Miller asks, his voice thick. “I can’t. I can’t do that. He’s my fucking _resident_.”

Bellamy crosses the room and sinks onto the futon beside him.

“I can say something?” Bellamy offers.

“No,” Miller grumbles. “Fuck no.”

“Then you just have to keep doing what you’ve been doing,” Bellamy says. “Keep him at an arm’s length. Stop him before anything happens.” Miller curls further into himself. All of this is so fucking unfair.

“Bryan texted me,” Miller says, still mostly into his hands. “And Monty was talking about how I deserve something like that again, and--Bellamy, I really fucking like him. What the fuck.”

It fucking _aches_ how much Miller likes him. How fucking dare Monty Green get under his skin like this?

* * *

Jasper sticks his head into Miller’s room the next day and Miller can’t meet his eyes. This situation is entirely new to him. He’s never had a thing for one of his residents significant other before. He feels so fucking guilty.

Jasper seems off too, which doesn’t help. Because maybe he knows, and maybe there’s going to be some weird reporting to Kane about Miller being unprofessional, and maybe Miller’s going to lock himself in his room and hate himself for a month after this all settles down. Even though he and Monty appear to fight a lot, they also tend to be okay with communication. So maybe Monty told him about last night.

“I have a question,” Jasper says. Which like, is clearly never the best way to start a conversation.

“Hopefully I have an answer,” Miller murmurs back. He doesn’t sound like himself. Jasper slips into his room. “What’s up?”

Jasper looks… nervous. “It’s a weird question,” he says. Miller tips his head to the side in acknowledgement, most of Jasper’s questions _are_ weird, and he waits. “So. Can RAs get in trouble for hooking up with residents?” he asks.

Miller’s heart plummets into his stomach. He totally _knows_.

“Um.” The only way to handle this is to remain incredibly neutral. No show of anything. It’s not like he and Monty _actually_ kissed, okay? And if guilt-tripping is what Jasper’s going for then it’s totally fucking working. “That, uh. It depends. On the supervisor of the building. It’s different with every supervisor.” Jasper nods. He’s looking at the ground. “Some are okay with it, others aren’t.”

“Yeah. Got it.” Jasper’s still mostly in the doorway. “Miller,” he says. He’s going to say something. Miller waits. “You’re a really cool RA, you know.” God, this is the worst. Miller needs to get drunk after this conversation. “Seriously.”

Miller clears his throat. He feels like he’s lying when he says, “Thanks, Jasper.”

“Like…” he trails off, and Miller’s really not breathing at this point. “No matter what happens, I just. Yeah. I’m glad you’re my RA.”

God, he can’t just not say something back. “Jasper,” Miller starts.

Jasper’s smile is fake, and forced, and sad, and oh my _God_ one of Miller’s favorite residents ever absolutely hates him because he’s super in love with his boyfriend and he _knows_ and this _sucks_.

“I gotta go,” he says. He starts backwards. “I’ll see you,” Jasper says, waving, leaving Miller alone in his room again.

* * *

Jasper and Monty end up on Miller’s futon within the next few days. Monty looks hesitant but Jasper’s back to his usual self, bright and loud and obnoxious, and he doesn’t seem to notice that there’s some funny tension in the air. Maybe this is like, therapy for the two of them. Jasper forcing Monty to be in the same room as his mistake, or something fucked up. Who even knows. It’s a typical afternoon with everyone working on whatever it is they have to work on before Jasper’s laptop starts to die.

“Shit!” He leaps up from the futon and rushes out of the room. “Shit, shit, shit I didn’t save!” He hurries off to plug his laptop in as fast as he can, leaving Monty and Miller alone in the room.

The silence returns.

Monty’s gnawing on his cheek. “I--uh,” he starts, but stops. “I’m sorry about the other day.”

Miller shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“If it’s--if it’s uncomfortable me being here,” Monty says, but Miller shakes his head again. It’s not _uncomfortable_ , that’s not the right word. It’s like passing a fucking car crash. Painful and all consuming but Miller can’t look away. But also like a summer afternoon, warm and endless, something you never want to end. And it’s confusing. God, is it confusing. “I just don’t want things between us to um.” Monty looks toward the door as though checking it for Jasper’s return. “I’m just sorry,” he says, his voice softer.

“It’s okay,” Miller says. Monty still won’t look at him. “Monty,” he says slowly. “I think you’re great.”

“No, don’t do that,” Monty murmurs. “I get it. I--I shouldn’t have tried that.” He shakes his head, too. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. It’s okay. It’s just…” he trails off.

“Not allowed.”

 _It could be_ , Miller thinks. The two of them fight all the fucking time anyway. Maybe they should just break up.

But for now. “Not allowed,” he echoes.

Monty nods, and then there’s a small sad smile on his face. “You’re a much better person than me,” he says. Miller doesn’t believe that. Even if something had happened between them, Miller isn’t entirely sure he would believe that. “I really admire that about you. Just how you handle yourself.”

Miller shakes his head another time. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he says. That’s not entirely true, though. He needs to know. “Did you tell Jasper?” he asks.

Before Monty can answer, Jasper’s back, his computer dead in his hands, but now he’s brought his charger.

“I was too late to save it,” Jasper says, pouting, as he sinks back onto the futon.

“Maybe next time,” Miller tells him.

* * *

 **From Bellamy**  
I’m on duty tonight right and  
Jasper just came in with a girl?  
Like they were clearly together.  
Did he and Monty break up?

 **From Miller**  
What? No, Monty was over  
earlier today and they were both  
like, well you know how they get.

 **From Miller**  
Look Jasper posted this Insta today  
and everything.  
+1 Attachment

 **jazzyjordan** with my boy  <3 @mygreenest   
♥ mygreenest, helloharper, deardax, +52 others   
mygreenest love you so much always

 **From Bellamy**  
Well I definitely 100% just saw  
Jasper bringing in a girl…

 **From Bellamy**  
They just got on the elevator  
maybe if you look out your  
peephole you can catch them

Miller leaps from his desk and hurries to the door, pressing himself against it so he can look out into the hallway. It’s super fucking creepy, he knows that, but the elevator dings and out walks Jasper and--is that Maya Vie? Miller knows her, but only sort of.

She looks over her shoulder nervously and despite the fact that Miller’s inside his room, he ducks away from the peephole. It’s not a coincidence, is it? That days after Miller and Monty almost maybe kiss, Jasper’s bringing around a girl?

Monty’s bi, and Miller bets that Jasper is too even though they’ve never explicitly talked about it.

Oh--fuck. What if it’s a revenge thing? Oh, God.

 **From Nate**  
Hey, what’re you doing  
tonight?

 **From Monty**  
i’m in the lib working on  
a group project. why what’s up?

 **From Nate  
** No Jasper tonight?

 **From Monty  
** what, you miss me or something??

 **From Monty**  
joking!! but nah, he’s got a test  
to study for. locking himself in  
his room for the night not to be  
disturbed

 **From Monty  
** you bored?

 **From Nate  
** No just wondering.

 **From Monty  
** you’re being sketchy

 **From Nate**  
No I’m not! I just wanted to  
see if you wanted to grab food.

It’s a lie, but Miller doesn’t want to cause drama in his and Jasper’s relationship if there’s no drama to be had. Miller watches the (...) pop up on his screen once, twice, three times before Monty finally responds.

 **From Monty**  
it’s not weird? if we grab  
food together?

Miller ignores the way his heart cracks.

 **From Nate  
** Nah.

 **From Monty**  
okay. if you’re sure. i’m out of  
here in like 20 min. meet at grounders?

 **From Nate  
** See you there.

* * *

Miller isn’t sure if he’s thankful that whatever happened with him and Monty last week hasn’t kept him away or not. Part of him wishes Monty would just stop coming around because Miller likes him so fucking _much_ and it would be so much easier if he left and never looked back. But without Monty in his daily life, Miller’s not sure he would enjoy it half as much as he does.

It’s been almost a week and a half since Miller first spotted Jasper and Maya together. He’s seen them interacting, in some capacity, every day since.

Today he decides to be brave.

“Hey,” he wonders, turning slightly in his seat to look at Monty. Monty’s on his stomach on Miller’s futon, typing dramatically, working on some code or something for class. “Question.”

Monty doesn’t look up. “Uh-huh.”

“Do you know a Maya? Vie?”

Monty perks up, smiling. “I do! She’s an RA in my building.” He turns slightly. “Do _you_ know Maya Vie?”

“Kind of,” Miller says.

They’ve been through training together, so they’ve met, but they don’t have a lot of friends in common or anything like that. In fact, Miller’s pretty sure she’s afraid of him because his snark tends to have a little too much bite sometimes. But whatever.

Monty’s smile slips a bit. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh.” Miller shrugs. “I don’t know.” Monty eyes flick back to his screen for a moment before looking up at Miller again. “I’ve seen her around,” he finally says. “With Jasper. Is all.”

Monty dips his head into a slow nod, his smile slowly slipping away. “Yeah…” he trails off. “I know.”

Oh. Good. That’s good. They’re probably just friends. And Miller is seriously overreacting. Like, Monty’s great. Obviously Jasper is not going to cheat on Monty. He’s _great_. More than great. And if he cheated on Monty--he just, he wouldn’t. No one would cheat on Monty.

“They’re friends, then?” Miller asks.

Monty laughs, but it feels empty. He looks back to his screen. “Um, I guess, yeah. You could say that.” Miller isn’t sure how he feels about that response, but he doesn’t push. He’s quiet for a long moment. Monty’s eyes flick back up to him. “Everything okay?” he asks.

Miller whirls back to his desk to work on his essay. “Yeah,” he murmurs. It feels like a lie.

* * *

Monty keeps coming back, which is--it’s okay. But every time he’s over Miller finds himself asking the same question.

“No Jasper today?”

“He’s busy,” Monty answers with a wave of his hand. “Plans with someone, or something. A project, I think he said.”

 _Bullshit_ , Miller thinks. But this is messy. Where’s the line? What could he possibly say to Monty to make this situation any better? God, this is so fucking stupid. If Monty and Jasper break up then Monty and Miller can date and Jasper and Maya can date and then everything’s fine! Everyone wins! Monty and Jasper can stay friends and Jasper and Miller’s RA/Resident relationship won’t be awful and everyone wins.

Right?

* * *

“Jasper!”

Miller’s door is open today when he catches Jasper getting off the elevator, Maya Vie behind him. He rushes to the doorway, leaning against the wall so he can look at them. Jasper snatches his hand back to himself, keeping his hands at his side. He looks pale. They were holding hands. What the fuck.

“Hey Miller,” Jasper says. His voice sounds small. He turns, looking over his shoulder at Maya. “This is--”

“Yeah,” Miller cuts him off. “I know who she is.”

Jasper swallows. His Adam’s apple bobs. Maya offers a small wave. “Hi, Miller,” she says. Her voice sounds small, too. “How’re you?”

“Could be better,” he murmurs. Jasper’s eyes are stuck on the floor, and Maya keeps looking around. “How’s Weatherby House?” he asks, referencing the dorm she’s an RA in on the other side of campus.

“Busy,” she says. “Loud.” She gestures to Jasper. “We’re in a seminar together,” she says. “Jasper lets me study over here.”

“Study,” Miller echoes. Jasper’s still looking at the ground. He’s radiating guilt. Maya won’t look at him anymore, either. Which means she probably _knows_ that Jasper has someone else. Might as well drive the point home. “Where’s Monty tonight?” Miller asks.

Jasper shrugs. “Dunno.”

“Huh.” He tips his head at them. “Well. I won’t hold you.”

Maya manages another smile, weak and small, before they head off to Jasper’s room in silence.

* * *

Miller spots Jasper with Maya a dozen more times before it happens.

♥ **Jasper Jordan** and **Maya Vie** are in a relationship.

His first thought is to text Monty, but then he pushes that aside because he might say something super dramatic. His second is to text Jasper, but then he decides against that as well because he might say something so awful it would cause him to lose his job. And just--what? What the _fuck_ is going on?

Before he can even figure out what he wants to do at all other than stare at his fucking laptop screen in disbelief, there’s a knock on his doorframe.

“Hey.” Miller turns to find Monty smiling easily, and it just bursts out of him.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

Monty frowns. “Sorry? Is there a reason I should be not-okay?”

Miller looks back at his computer screen. “I just--saw. About Jasper.” He hesitates. “And Maya.”

Monty’s frown is transformed into a smile immediately. “Oh!” He enters Miller’s room without asking (because it’s been months at this point, and there’s no use in asking when he knows he’s allowed in) and leans back against the wall. “I know. Finally, right?”

“Finally…?” Miller echoes. He’s confused. He’s very confused. He’s missing something. “What?”

“I mean, for a while Maya didn’t know if it was allowed. Because she’s an RA. But she talked to her supervisor and he didn’t care because Jasper’s not a resident in her building, you know? So yeah. I’m happy for them.”

No, no, no this is wrong. Something’s wrong. Like, maybe they broke up and Miller just didn’t realize it. It would be a weird conversation for Monty and Miller to have anyway. Clearly Monty’s not the type of spiteful person to hold that sort of grudge over an ex, even if they’ve been together for a long time. He and Jasper seem to just flow. Maybe it was an okay conversation, ending things so Jasper could move on.

But Monty must not _know_.

“But…”

Monty looks just as confused as Miller feels. “But what?” he asks.

“Monty,” Miller says gently. “He--Monty, he was cheating on you.”

Monty’s eyebrows collide together. “What?”

“Jasper,” Miller says desperately. “He--he’s been bringing her around for weeks. I knew I should’ve told you I just--I didn’t know how. They had to have--” Monty holds up his hand to stop him and Miller closes his mouth. The room is silent.

Monty slowly lowers his hand. He opens his mouth but stops before he says anything. Once. Twice. Miller’s about to apologize, he _knew_ he should’ve said _something_ , when Monty shakes his head.

“Jasper and I aren’t dating,” Monty says. Which is clear, considering Jasper’s newly updated relationship status on Facebook. But that’s not what Monty means. “Like,” he eases his eyes open slowly. “We were _never_ dating.”

Okay--no. That’s not--what?

Monty pushes himself away from the wall and kicks the doorstop out from under Miller’s door so he can close it, leaving the two of them away from the world. Miller’s still sitting at his desk but Monty’s standing there now, a few feet from him, waiting in silence.

“What do you mean you were never dating?” Miller finally asks. His voices sounds small. And scared, maybe.

“I’ve known Jasper since I was four years old,” Monty says slowly. “He’s like. My brother.”

Miller can’t look at Monty for a second longer. He has to think, and that’s really hard to do when there are so many thoughts in his brain. He has to think. He has to think.

Monty and Jasper always say how they love one another but Miller isn’t sure he’s ever heard them call the other their boyfriend. And he always sees them as being very affectionate and loving, but he’s never seen them kiss. And--

“Nate,” Monty says. “Talk to me.”

“You…” he trails off. Nothing's making sense and yet at the same time it’s all making sense and maybe that’s worse, because has Miller really been this much of a fucking idiot for _months_? “You go to GSA meetings together,” he starts weakly.

Monty huffs, caught between a laugh and a scoff. “He’s the S in the GSA, Nate!” He throws up his hands, actually laughing this time. “Jasper is like-- _painfully_ straight! The straightest person I have ever _met_ kind of straight!” Monty’s grinning now--no, beaming, bright like the sunshine he’s always been, and Miller pushes himself out of his chair so he can stand.

This feels like a moment in which he needs to stand.

Monty laughs again, his chin tipped back slightly so he can look Miller in the eyes. “You really thought me and Jasper were _dating_?” he asks.

“Obviously,” Miller says.

 _Obviously_.

Monty’s smile fades rapidly, but it’s only because he’s realizing something. Miller can see it in his eyes. “That’s why…” Monty trails off, blinking, trying to understand something as well.

The silence in the room is deafening and Monty’s looking at him with his lips parted, his eyes wide. Miller’s fingers feel numb. They curl upwards by his sides, wishing they were curling into Monty’s hair instead. His heart is racing so fast he can feel it pulsing in his neck. Even with the door shut it feels like someone else is there, watching, waiting for something to happen.

Finally, Monty takes a step toward.

“When you said you wanted to,” Monty says slowly, “but you couldn’t. You meant kiss me, right?” Miller swallows. “But you thought…” he speaks slowly, making sure each and every word is clear, “I wasn’t available. And _I_ thought…” he takes another step. “That Kane had rules against it.”

Miller swallows again. They’ve been talking about different things this whole time. Monty’s actually been flirting with him this whole fucking time. Monty’s wanted something more _this whole time_. But Miller’s reluctance, his steps away from Monty, led Monty to think it was because of his supervisor.

 _It’s different with every supervisor_ , Miller had told Jasper. Who was probably talking about Miller and Monty in some capacity then, too. And Jasper’s _whatever happens_ , and--oh my _God_.

“You’re not my resident,” Miller answers, just as slowly. “You don’t even live in this building.”

Monty steps forward once more. “So there aren’t any rules?” he asks. Miller shakes his head. “So if you wanted to kiss me now,” Monty says, his voice dropping, “there’s nothing stopping you?” Miller can’t stop looking at Monty’s mouth. “No moral obligations? Ethical violations? Contracts of any sort?”

“No,” Miller rasps.

Monty’s right in front of him now and Miller’s skin is crawling with warmth. “Okay,” Monty says softly. “Nate.” Monty tips his chin forward, making himself closer. “I really, really like you. And if you feel the same, then now’s the time.”

“I do,” Miller says, but it comes out rough. Like he’s swallowed gravel. “I--I really do.”

A small smile takes Monty’s face, almost as though he’s reluctant to let the weight of this moment actually overwhelm him

“Okay,” Monty whispers. “Cool.”

This isn’t happening. Miller licks his lips and leans in. This is happening. The moment is agonizingly long. But then Monty tips his chin forward and lets his mouth meet Miller’s.

It’s just one kiss. They part for just a moment, Miller’s nose against Monty’s, before they meet in the middle once more. Miller’s hand lifts to cradle Monty’s cheek and keep him close, refusing to even let him get a breath of air, while Monty’s hands wind around Miller’s waist and do the same. It’s just one kiss but it’s a kiss that’s been a long time coming. Everything that Miller’s held inside of him is bursting out of him. The taste of Monty’s mouth is overwhelming. The feel of his hands on his skin, slipping up his sides, is revolutionary.

“Nate,” Monty gasps when Miller breaks away, burning kisses down Monty’s throat instead.

“You’ve seriously been single this whole time?” Miller murmurs into Monty’s skin.

There’s a laugh in his voice and Monty’s bright again, beaming like sunshine. “Yes! I wouldn’t have been over here every freaking day otherwise!” Miller looks up and Monty catches his chin, tugging him back for another kiss. “You’re an idiot,” Monty mumbles against Miller’s lips.

“Shh.”

They push and pull at one another, their kisses getting deeper, more frantic, while Monty’s hands start tugging at Miller’s shirt in frustration.

Miller feels like something beneath his skin is on the edge of combusting. He grips Monty tighter and moves him backwards toward his bed. With one hard push Monty’s sitting on the edge while Miller stands in front of him, the both of them breathing just a little too deeply.

“We’re on the same page here,” Miller asks, “right?”

Monty nods, still perched on the edge of Miller’s bed. “Please don’t make me beg,” he says, breathless. But Miller’s still just looking at him, overwhelmed that this is happening so quickly. He never thought he’d get this chance or if he did it wouldn’t be until months if not years later. He figured there’d be more alcohol or more angst not this insanely happy bubble. “ _Nate_.”

“Take your shirt off,” Miller says. His voice is thick. Monty’s eyes are dark. He doesn’t break eye contact until he has to, pulling his shirt up and over his head and tossing it to the side. Miller’s eyes skirt down Monty’s bare chest and Monty flushes red. Miller leans in, snatching a quick kiss, before skirting his mouth down across Monty’s jaw. While he nibbles on Monty’s collarbone he palms him through his shorts, receiving a gasp in return. “Okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Monty rasps. “Yes, _yes_.”

Miller keeps kissing his way across Monty’s body. Down his neck, across his throat. Miller lingers at Monty’s pulsepoint, his other hand coming up to rest over Monty’s heart. His heart is racing and Miller nips at him.

“Nate?” Monty asks. _What are you doing?_

“Shhh,” Miller reprimands him. He just needs to live in this moment a little longer, Monty’s skin warm beneath his hands, a moment he never thought he’d have. “I’m indulging.” Monty laughs again this time but it’s mostly breathy, mostly fond, and Miller bumps his nose at Monty’s chin. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he rasps. “With _you_. I just--”

“Me too,” Monty responds, sinking deeper onto the mattress. “I like you so much I thought I was gonna die.” Miller laughs this time, pulling back so he can look at Monty. When their eyes meet, Monty looks happier than Miller’s ever seen him. “Like, it’s insane.”

Honestly, Miller feels happier than he’s been in a long time. He can’t figure out how to put it into words how he feels so he leans in for another kiss. Monty seems to understand because he kisses him back, smiling so widely that the kiss is mostly teeth. Miller fully climbs into bed now and breaks away from Monty’s mouth, kissing his chin again, ready to kiss his way down Monty’s bare chest, when there’s a knock on the door.

Miller groans into Monty’s neck before pushing himself out of bed, chased by Monty’s laugher as he answers the door. He pulls it open with a deep breath, forcing a smile on his face for Fox who’s waiting for him.

“Hey Miller!”

Miller keeps his body in the way of Monty sprawled out in his bed. “Hi Fox. Listen--”

“I got the part!” Miller’s brain is a little too slow for this right now, definitely focused on something else, so he doesn’t understand what she means until she adds, “In the play! You told me to tell you when I--”

“Oh, yeah! Yes. Right. The play. Good job.” He smiles as brightly as he can. “I knew you would. You’re great.” Fox grins and Miller sways, impatient, and her eyes catch on Monty anyway. Miller clears his throat.

Fox grins. “Hi Monty,” she calls back. Monty waves. Miller closes his eyes slowly. “So this is finally happening. Cool.” She reaches up toward his door and moves his magnet from _in_ to _out_. “I’ll talk to you later,” she says to Miller.

“Thank you,” he murmurs. Fox waves again, still smiling, and lets Miller shut the door.

The room is quiet again.

Miller turns on his heel, back to Monty. He’s propped up on his elbows now, a soft smile on his face, and Miller _wants_. He reaches down and pulls his shirt up and over his head, tossing it to the side as he strides back in Monty’s direction.

“ _God_ ,” Monty rasps, collapsing backwards. “You’re so _hot_ it’s so unfair.” Miller’s grin turns wolfish as he gets closer. “Freaking--taking your shirt off like that, Jesus.” He climbs into bed and leans in to kiss Monty while Monty frantically tries to pull him closer. “Sometimes you’d come back from runs all sweaty and I was _dying_ ,” Monty says, causing Miller to laugh.

He feels like happiness has been injected into his veins. “You’re too much,” Miller manages.

“Me?” Monty asks, affronted but still grinning, because clearly neither of them are going to stop smiling for the rest of forever. “You! You’re too much!”

“Mmm.” Miller grinds forward and Monty groans and the sound of it is so dirty that it makes his mind spin.

* * *

After cleaning themselves up they sink back down onto Miller’s bed, the room quiet. Miller tips his head to look at Monty, finding him staring at the ceiling with a dazed look in his eyes. “You okay?” Miller asks.

“Don’t RA me,” Monty answers without missing a beat. Miller laughs, and Monty turns to look at him. “I can’t believe this took months because you thought I was dating Jasper.”

Miller rolls his eyes but he’s pretty sure he’s never going to stop smiling.

“It’s not my fault,” Miller says. Monty turns to him, his eyes narrowed slightly. “It’s not! You two are attached at the fucking hip, Monty.”

Monty arches up and kisses Miller quickly. Miller doesn’t ever want to get used to the warmth in his chest when their lips meet. Miller chases Monty’s mouth as he pulls away and Monty grins, lifting his hand to frame Miller’s face. Then they’re making out again, Miller debating swinging his leg over Monty’s hips again, before Monty pulls away firmly.

“Nate,” he says gently. The smile is gone, and Miller’s heart immediately aches in his chest. “Did you…” Monty trails off and Miller’s worried that Monty doesn’t want this the way that he does. He waits. “You thought I was with Jasper,” he says. “So you thought I was going to cheat on Jasper with you?” There’s a pause as Monty slides his hand over Miller’s hip and up his back. “Do you think I’d do that?”

“No,” he says. Miller shakes his head. Sighs, trying to find the words. “I don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t,” Monty says firmly. His grip against Miller’s back tightens, pulling him closer. “That’s not who I am.”

“I know,” Miller says. “I know that. At least I thought I did. Which is partly why it was so fucking confusing for me.” Monty pulls him closer again. “God it was messy, Monty.”

Monty looks soft around the edges, fond and warm, and Miller ducks his head because looking at him for too long is going to make his insides melt. “You could’ve _asked_ ,” Monty says gently, his fingers moving slowly across Miller’s skin again. “About me and Jasper, you know.”

“It wasn’t something I wanted to talk about,” Miller murmurs. He does feel like he needs to explain himself, though. “The first time I really got to talking with Jasper,” he says, “he talked about you. How you were much more than a friend, how he loved you, how important you were to him. And when I first saw you two together, arms slung around each other all close and happy and laughing…” he trails off and Monty arches forward then, stealing a soft kiss in the pause of his story. “It made sense,” he breathes when Monty pulls away.

Monty bumps his nose against Miller’s. “You’re not the first person to make that mistake,” Monty tells him. “I don’t think it’s ever been this, uh. Dramatic. But yeah.”

“That only makes me feel slightly better.”

Monty grins.

* * *

They chose not to get out of bed for the rest of the night.

In fact, they fall asleep tangled together, Monty nestled on Miller’s chest, the two of them holding hands, drifting off as they spoke about this that and the other. Knowing that Miller could talk to Monty without fear of someone _else_ , without fear of ruining something with another person, Miller opened up completely and was pleased when Monty did the same. They spoke about their home lives and their goals after graduating and their feelings for one another and just about everything.

Miller wakes up first, half-convinced that he’s still asleep and this has all been a dream, when Monty wakes and nuzzles a little closer.

“Nate,” he murmurs, his voice thick with sleep. Miller closes his eyes and hums in response, savoring the moment a touch longer. “Can we stay in bed all day?” Nate curls more towards Monty with a smile.

“Yeah,” he murmurs back. “We’ve got all that lost time to make up for.” He opens one of his eyes to find Monty grinning. “Which is both of our faults,” he points out, “and not solely mine.”

“Sure, sure, sure.”

“And Jasper’s,” Miller adds, sliding his free hand down Monty’s back, his fingertips tracing over Monty’s spine. “He was the _worst_ wingman.”

“Ah--crap,” Monty says with a groan. “He’s probably worried.” He pulls away from Miller looking irritated and sleepy, scanning Miller’s room with a frown. “Do you know where my phone is?” he asks.

Miller reaches out to his dresser, which is basically his bedside table, and hands Monty his phone that was placed there the night before. It’s dead. Thankfully Miller’s phone charger is close enough that neither of them have to get out of bed to get it plugged in.

“I wouldn’t say _the worst_ wingman,” Monty says, settling down back to Miller’s side once everything’s hooked up. “Just like, not the best. He did try. In small ways. Which were clearly not helpful, but.”

“Could’ve been better,” Miller murmurs. “How easy would it have been for him to be like, ‘oh hey my friend thinks you’re cute, and also that friend is Monty’?”

“Well I didn’t want him to make it _weird_ ,” Monty says with a smile. “You know. If you didn’t feel the same.” Monty’s back in the spot he was earlier so Miller can trace his fingers over his spine again. “It was a weird balance we had to live in. And also he’s totally going to lose his mind when I tell him why you never made a move.”

“You could’ve made moves,” Miller murmurs.

“I _tried_ ,” Monty reminds him. “All of which ended poorly!”

“I was trying to make sure your relationship had integrity.”

“Fake relationship.”

“Real integrity.” Monty laughs and Miller tugs him closer. “Jasper’s never going to let me live it down,” Miller wonders, “is he?”

“Absolutely never,” Monty agrees.

Miller can’t even bring himself to mind. Not if he gets to have these moments with Monty, gentle and warm and almost like a fantasy. “Hey,” Miller says after a moment. “This doesn’t mean you can come over here and get away with whatever you want,” Miller reminds him.

He still has a job to do. He’s still an RA.

“I know, I know.”

“I’m serious,” Miller warns.

Monty laughs. “I know!” Miller looks down at him while Monty looks up, their noses brushing. “I’m a good person,” Monty tells him.

“Mm-hm.”

“With great morals,” Monty carries on.

“Okay.”

“And values.”

“Sure.”

Monty laughs again, arching up for a soft kiss. “I’m not gonna like--drink in Jasper’s room or whatever. Or smoke.” Miller rolls his eyes and Monty grins. “While you’re on duty,” he adds.

“Monty!”

“I’m kidding!” Monty rolls a little so he’s propping himself up on his elbow now. “I’m kidding,” he says a touch softer. He’s looking down at Nate with this insanely fond look in his eyes and Miller can’t look away. “Nate,” Monty says gently. “I get it. Your job comes first. But as your boyfriend, I think--”

There’re meant to be more words there, Miller’s sure, but he couldn’t stop himself from leaning up and stealing a kiss instead. He reaches up and slides his fingers into Monty’s hair, tugging him down to deepen the kiss. “Boyfriend?” Miller breathes between them. Monty’s eyes are wide now. “Is that what you want?”

There’s no hesitation when Monty starts to nod. “Yes.”

Miller kisses him again. But Monty was talking, saying something. “Sorry,” Miller murmurs, but Monty shakes his head. He swings his leg over Miller’s hip like Miller had been thinking about doing earlier and pushes him down onto the mattress to kiss him some more. “You were saying something,” Miller gets out between them. But Monty’s still shaking his head, kissing him more.

“You want this too, right?” Monty asks, his voice hopeful, and Miller nods.

 _Boyfriend_. A real word to it. A real relationship between the two of them.

Just as things are getting a little hotter Monty’s phone starts _blasting_. Miller groans, dropping his head backwards, and Monty fumbles to answer it from where it’s been placed. It’s not even a normal ringtone, it’s the freaking Scooby Doo theme song.

“Hey!” Monty answers. He’s still straddling Miller’s hips and Miller wants him to rock forward, just a little. That would be nice. “No, no,” he says. Monty rolls his eyes but he’s smiling. “ _No,_ Jasper,” he says, “I’m fine. Really.”

Jasper’s voice is loud enough on the other end that Miller can hear bits. “...roommate said you didn’t...last night! Where were you?”

“I’ll explain everything later,” Monty says. “But now, I--what? Oh--shit, was that today?” Monty whines a little, looking down at Nate with a pout. “Yeah. Yeah. No, I said I would.” Monty sighs. “Just let me--I have to like, shower. And get my life together first.” Miller’s not sure what’s happening, but it sounds like Monty’s going to have to get out of bed after all. “What time is it?” Monty asks, scanning Miller’s room for some sort of clock. “Yeah, I can do 11. _Yes_ , Jasper.” Monty laughs. “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

Monty hangs up and sets his phone back down before turning back to Miller.

“How’s the boyfriend?” Miller asks.

Monty laughs brightly before bending in for another kiss. “I promised Jasper I’d go with him into the city today,” he says, letting Miller roll them on his bed so Monty’s the one pinned down. “There’s this video game place we’ve been wanting to go to for weeks that was under renovation and is just opening up again.”

“Nerd.”

“Yep,” Monty agrees. Miller keeps kissing him despite knowing that he has to leave. Miller really doesn’t want him to leave. “I hope you know,” Monty says as Miller nips across his neck, “that I’m going to be here like, all the time now.”

“Mm-hm,” Miller hums. “I’d hope so.”

“Like, partly because I like you. But also my roommate sucks.” Miller laughs into Monty’s throat, causing Monty to laugh too. “And my RA sucks.”

“This RA also sucks,” Miller reminds him with another bite.

Monty laughs again, “Shut up!” He pulls away and swings his legs over the side of the bed. “You’re going to make me late!”

“You’re the one who wanted to stay in bed all day,” Miller reminds him, sinking into the warmth that Monty’s leaving behind. He starts pulling on his clothes as fast as he can, glancing over his shoulder with a mischievous smile. “Come back after?” Miller asks, watching as Monty scans Miller’s closet and snags a sweatshirt from a hanger. “We can order in,” Miller adds.

Monty tugs the sweatshirt on before smiling. “That sounds great.” He crosses the room back to Miller, leaning over him to unplug his phone, before kissing him one last time. “I really have to go though.”

“You could shower here,” Miller offers.

Monty laughs. And there’s another kiss that Miller arches up to meet. “You really don’t want me to leave, do you?”

“Not at all,” Miller admits.

“God, I like you.” Monty kisses him one last time before hurrying for the door. “I’m moving your magnet to in. So your residents bother you and you get out of bed.” Miller groans and Monty grins. “I’ll see you later,” he calls before slipping out the door.

Miller lays in bed for at least another ten minutes, overwhelmed with happiness.

* * *

Miller manages to get out of bed sooner or later, and after a shower he props open his door so his residents can come by if they need to. Fox ends up over again to talk more about her part in the play she got her part in (as well as tease Miller about Monty) but generally people are busy. It’s a Saturday, afterall, and people have lives.

Despite the fact that Miller is thinking about nothing but Monty Monty Monty, he actually manages to get some work done.

 **From Miller**  
Also I figured I should tell you that  
we are both idiots, Monty and Jasper  
were never dating, and now I have a  
boyfriend. Happy Saturday.

 **From Bellamy**  
If I wasn’t home for the weekend I  
would be in your room demanding answers.

 **From Bellamy  
** What the FUCK

 **From Bellamy  
** I can’t believe this.

 **From Bellamy  
** I can’t BELIEVE this.

 **From Miller**  
Jasper’s dating Maya from Weatherby,  
Monty and I made out, and now we’re  
dating.

 **From Miller  
** My weekend has been awesome.

“Knock knock.”

Miller turns, finding Monty in the doorway with a smile on his face.

“Hi,” Miller says.

“Hi,” Monty returns.

“ _Hi_ ,” Jasper says, sticking his head around Monty to see Miller. His grin is absurd and Miller sighs, sinking down into his seat. “How _dare_ ,” Jasper says dramatically, pushing past Monty to enter Miller’s room, “you come over here and hit on my boyfriend?” He looks affronted but Miller knows it’s an act. “He’s the love of my life, and you are the worst.”

“Shut up,” Miller mutters. Monty’s still smiling when he follows Jasper into the room. “I blame both of you equally for this entire situation.”

Jasper gasps. “For my boyfriend _cheating_ on me? To be with _you_? How is that--”

“Jas,” Monty cuts him off gently. “Give him some slack.”

Jasper drops the dramatics and grins. “I admire you,” Jasper says. “For not like--letting yourself make out with Monty when you thought he was dating me. Because that means you admire _me_. Which is rad.” Jasper pauses. “But that also means you thought I was cheating on _him_ , which is _not_ rad.”

“Can we just call it a day and move on?” Miller asks.

Jasper points at him, but heads for the door. “Never!” he shouts. He winks at Monty, tips his head at Miller, and leaves the two of them alone.

Monty not so subtly kicks the doorstop out from Miller’s door and lets it shut before crossing the room to him and leaning in for a kiss. It feels so easy and so natural despite the fact that this is all insanely new. “He laughed for like, ten minutes,” Monty murmurs before kissing him again. “Should’ve gotten it on camera.”

“Shame you didn’t,” Miller murmurs back.

Monty crosses the room again to settle on Miller’s futon. “I believe I was promised pizza,” Monty says.

Miller shuts his laptop so he can move to the futon as well. “You’re greedy,” he says.

“Not for pizza,” Monty responds, reaching out to pull Miller close.

* * *

They get their pizza, scarfing it down while talking about Monty’s day in the city with Jasper while Sky High runs in the background, before they turn on Parks and Rec so Monty can nuzzle into Miller’s side.

“I told Bellamy,” Miller says. His arm is wound around Monty’s waist, his thumb rubbing careful circles on Monty’s hip. “He was happy.”

“Oh, good,” Monty says.

“I haven’t told my dad yet though,” Miller says. They’re quiet for a moment. “Would you tell your parents?” he asks. Monty looks up at him with confusion on his face before Miller shifts uncomfortably. “You mentioned that your mom wasn’t really okay with it. A while back.”

“I texted both of my parents like, the second I left your room this morning,” Monty says. His smile is small, but sure. “If they’re not super thrilled, they’re not very loud about it. And besides, my mom’ll love you when she gets to know you.”

“And your dad?”

“Just happy when I’m happy,” Monty says. He reaches up, tapping Miller on the nose. “My mom’s the one you’ll have to win over. But the fact that your dad’s a cop and you’re an RA and you didn’t date me for months because you were worried about a nonexistent other relationship will win you like, millions of brownie points.” Miller laughs and Monty taps him again. “She’ll love you,” he says sincerely. “What about your dad?”

“He knows of you in theory,” Miller says. “And will be thrilled to know that you’re not actually dating my resident.”

Monty laughs, too. “You told your dad about me before all of this?” he asks, and Miller nods. “You’re so cute.”

Miller sinks down onto the futon and tugs Monty closer.

* * *

Miller’s getting ready to leave for class when he hears something happening on his door. It’s not often his residents move his magnet _for_ him, but it’s happened before. They like to move it to Out when he’s actually In, or Around when he’s actually Out, just because they think it’s funny. But it’s not often, or in the middle of the day.

When he opens his door he finds Fox and Jasper on the other side with tape in their hands.

Miller frowns. “Your door said Out,” Fox says.

“Monty was over last night,” Miller tells them. He’s not going to lie to two of his favorite residents. It’s easier to leave the door on Out when Monty’s over so Miller doesn’t have to get out of bed all the time. Besides, Jasper probably already knew.

“Yes,” Jasper says. See. Exactly. He gestures to the door. “Hence this locator tag we’ve given you.”

Miller turns to his door and can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of him. Now he has In, Out, Around, and Monty. He shakes his head at his two residents but they’re both grinning at him knowingly. The new Monty tag is on a piece of paper that looks like a heart.

“I’m not leaving this up,” he says, pointing to the paper. He pulls his door shut because he knows he’s going to be late for class if he doesn’t leave soon.

“Like you weren’t going to take care of that plant Monty gave you?” Jasper asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Don’t you have like, three of them now?” Fox wonders.

“I think it’s four,” Jasper says.

“I’m going to be late,” Miller says with a grin. “Bye, guys.”

They both wave as he gets on the elevator.

* * *

“Shh!”

It’s definitely quiet hours, which means Miller really should not be hearing whoever’s on the other side of his door. In all honesty, he _should_ scold them. Kane’s told Miller more than once that his floor has a problem with quiet hours, so in all honestly his residents know better than to carry on after 10pm on a school night.

But he’s comfortable in bed, arms wrapped around his boyfriend, and the thought of getting out to yell at the freshmen on his floor isn’t even worth it. They’re good kids. Who cares if they’re a little loud every now and then?

Miller can’t place the voice that says, “His magnet’s on Monty!”

Followed by a quick tapping on Miller’s door. “Hell yeah! Get lucky, Miller!” Miller laughs into Monty’s throat.

Monty rocks his hips. “Told you it would come in handy, RA Nate,” Monty tells him with a grin.

Miller nips at his collarbone. “That you did,” he breathes. “That you did.”


End file.
